February 9, 2018. Dynasty Financial Partners is proud to announce that the firm has won the 2018 Private Asset Management Magazine Award for Best New Product for High-Net-Worth Advisory for one of its innovative RIA liquidity offerings: Dynasty Capital Strategies Revenue Participation Note (RPN).

Dynasty Financial Partners is an RIA integrated middle and back office platform for many of the leading financial advisors in the U.S.

The Private Asset Management Awards recognize high performing investment firms and wealth advisors operating within the private asset management industry. The PAM Awards are a much sought-after industry accolade, and Dynasty has now won seven PAM Awards since 2012.

Dynasty received the Best New Product for High-Net-Worth Advisory Award at the Private Asset Management Magazine Award ceremony on February 8th, 2018 in New York City.

“We are delighted to be recognized for our outstanding new financing and liquidity capabilities for RIAs,” said Dynasty’s President and CEO Shirl Penney. “Dynasty has seen significant momentum since the launch of Dynasty Capital Strategies, an innovative financing arm of Dynasty that helps independent advisory firms expand, scale and grow their businesses, and have seen great support for our Revenue Participation Note program since adding it to the menu of options inside Dynasty Capital Strategies. I also thank our Client Advisory Board for their support in helping us design the program.”

When an independent firm is powered by Dynasty, the advisors continue to own and operate their business while having access to the scale, intellectual capital, financing, practice management, proprietary desktop technology and advisory community of a much larger firm and network. The RIAs can leverage Dynasty’s staff, which allows them to save on their own staff expenses and frees up time to focus on growth. The result is often a more scaled RIA business that is able to grow faster and achieve higher margins.

Through Dynasty Capital Strategies, Dynasty has been providing loans to RIAs over the past seven years, with nearly half of Dynasty’s advisor clients leveraging the programs for launching their firm, acquisition capital, diversification, or to fund succession planning. In 2017, Dynasty added the RPN program – allowing RIAs to sell a piece of their revenue to Dynasty to provide liquidity to principles without giving up controls in their business and while maintaining majority of firm profits and having the flexibility to decide on their own whether or not the financing be permanent. Collectively, the debt and RPN programs make Dynasty Capital Strategies a unique capital source provider to RIAs – helping to power their growth, diversification and succession needs.

“Dynasty has become a destination for RIAs looking for a growth partner to help them take their business to the next level,” said Ed Swenson, Dynasty’s COO, who manages Dynasty Capital Strategies. “We are excited to see so many legacy RIAs coming to us to help them rapidly professionalize, scale, technology enable and increase the enterprise value of their RIA. The expansion of Dynasty Capital Strategies with the RPN is a natural enhancement of our services for our maturing and growing advisory network. Thank you to Private Asset Management for this wonderful recognition.”

“We continue to see strong interest in the marketplace for our RPN and capital programs due to its flexible and friendly characteristics and its unique position in the capital structure for RIAs”, said Amit Grover, Director of Dynasty Capital Strategies. “We are excited to help even more RIAs and their principals meet their capital needs as part of Dynasty’s integrated platform solution set for the industries top RIAs.”

Dynasty Financial Partners has won the following other PAM Awards since 2012:

The PAM Awards: The PAM Awards (“PAMA”) are awarded annually by Private Asset Management, a financial services industry trade publication. PAMA invites firms to compete for awards in several categories by providing answers regarding their business model, services offered, growth in client count and assets managed, countries of operation, service innovation, and performance. In addition, PAMA permits firms to provide additional information of their choosing in support of their candidacy. A panel of independent industry experts selects the nominees and winners based on a number of qualitative and quantitative performance indicators. PAMA does not release statistics on the number of firms competing. Nomination or receipt of a PAMA is not necessarily indicative of any particular client’s experience or a guarantee that the firm will perform in the future as it did during the period evaluated by PAMA. They are sponsored by Private Asset Management magazine, a publication of Pageant Media.

About Dynasty Financial Partners

Dynasty Financial Partners develops, sources and integrates management capabilities for some of the industry’s leading independent investment advisor firms and offers registered investment advisory services. Dynasty’s integrated platform services delivery chassis offers a customized, open-architecture wealth management solutions and technology platform supporting advisors as they protect and grow their clients’ wealth. Dynasty also offers access to capital to help advisors expand, scale and grow their business. Dynasty’s core principle is “objectivity without compromise,” and the firm is committed to crafting solutions that allow investment advisors to act as true fiduciaries to their clients.

With wealth firms changing hands at a furious pace, some market players are eager to warn would-be sellers that quantity doesn’t equal quality -- and that more transactions hailed means more deals are quietly biting the dust. "For every M&A deal that gets done, there are several that fail to get executed," says Joseph Rizzo, newly appointed head of RIA growth strategies at Dynasty Financial Par [...]

With wealth firms changing hands at a furious pace, some market players are eager to warn would-be sellers that quantity doesn’t equal quality -- and that more transactions hailed means more deals are quietly biting the dust.

"For every M&A deal that gets done, there are several that fail to get executed," says Joseph Rizzo, newly appointed head of RIA growth strategies at Dynasty Financial Partners, a New York-based infrastructure provider to independent wealth management firms. And "50% of these mergers fail to add sustainable growth or profitability," he estimates.

Impacted by a wave of boomer-age FAs looking to cash in amid renewed interest from banks, private equity firms and consolidators, 2017 saw 168 RIA M&A transactions, according to the Los Angeles-based investment bank Echelon Partners. That set a new record for the fifth straight year -- and marked the second consecutive year in which the average deal size exceeded $1 billion in assets under management.

For Echelon CEO Daniel Seivert, it’s "wonderful to see entrepreneurs in the wealth management industry enjoy another record-breaking year of liquidity events, partnerships, investments, tuck-ins, and promotions to ownership status," according to the firm’s most recent "RIA M&A Deal Report."

And there’s reason to think the trend is sustainable. By Echelon’s reckoning, only about 10% of RIAs with assets over $1 billion have merged, leaving many others still looking for dance partners.

But Rizzo cautions against irrational exuberance -- especially when there’s disagreement about valuations, transparency is lacking and momentum is doubtful.

"Everyone thinks their business is worth a premium to what it actually is," says Rizzo, addressing valuation. And even when "sophisticated buyers" are willing to meet sellers’ outsized expectations, such deals come at a steep discount in terms of future earnings potential that has to be surrendered.

Failing to achieve clarity on the financing mechanics of a proposed merger is another reason deals run aground. "Too many people just focus on the economics of a deal and fail to deliver a clear and articulate vision for how the two firms can and will work together," says Rizzo.

Operating on the premise that execution is everything, Rizzo says successful buyers and sellers "clearly define the process for transition and the benefits each step provides to the transitioning team and their clients."

Defining clear steps can also aid in momentum, without which deals can go south -- either from atrophy or by lumbering into confusion.

"The process has to move forward in a defined process with escalating commitment," says Rizzo. "Laying out specific steps of due diligence and negotiation helps both sides stay focused on the goal" and makes it more or less obvious when "the deal is going off the rails."

Mark Germain of Beacon Wealth Management in Hackensack, N.J., says he’s "been to the proverbial altar of M&A about six times" without ever tying the knot.

One reason is the use of "different valuation methodologies," says Germain, whose firm manages about $300 million. This can arise from a prospective buyer seeing itself as being more valuable pound-for-pound by virtue of having "by definition a better mousetrap."

Deals can also get snagged in complex financing structures, says Germain. Some buyers assume any firm on the block "needs to be acquired, so they create an acquisition model that effectively uses my positive cash flow to purchase me -- and take my identity and plan my exit."

To that very point, Germain once discovered a slide presentation by a suitor extolling to prospective financial backers its plan to buy firms just like his "and replace the owners within three years with cheaper people."

That approach was at odds with what they were telling Germain to his face -- and not at all what he was looking for.

"It’s amazing, people will tell you they want you to be part of their firm and get the best of both worlds and so on -- and they’re really just trying to get your assets," says Germain. "That’s all they want."

That’s why Germain says it’s vital "to read and understand" documents on governance around the proposed merger, and not just the financial details. "As a former CFO of a software firm, I read every paragraph -- and most often find I go from a position of control to one of insignificance."

In one galling example, Germain tells of a clause in an agreement setting forth "a unilateral non-disparagement agreement."

In other words, Germain would have had to promise not to disparage the buyer at any point -- without a guarantee of reciprocity on that score.

But Germain believes his past experiences of having been "left at the altar" haven’t been in vain. He and his colleagues at Beacon Wealth Management still want a merger partner. But this time they know exactly what they want.

"We are looking to merge with a firm that’s overstaffed because we need to add two people to meet the demand we’ve created," he says.

And it seems there are firms out there that are adept at identifying talent, that have become overstaffed in their efforts to provide high-touch service and want to merge with firms that can absorb the excess capacity -- especially ones that are better at gathering assets than hiring.

"I’m not a human resources person, so I’m looking for a firm that has that strength, that’s already successful in HR," says Germain.

But clarity, honesty and strategic fit aren’t enough to see a merger through to completion and post-transaction success, says Germain, who has been involved in completed mergers as a tech-firm executive.

For one thing, it’s important to dispel the notion "that the firm trying to acquire you has the answers," says Germain. In effect, they’re also operating in the dark, and -- just like the would-be seller -- they’re hoping the firm in view can solve problems for them.

Against this backdrop the only reliable factor determining a good outcome is cultural compatibility -- which boils down to getting along and being on the same page.

"It’s all about the cultures, and if the cultures don’t fit, it doesn’t matter how good you are or how good they are, you won’t be good together."

February 06, 2018

Dynasty Financial Partners and YCharts Team Up to Provide RIAs With a Tailored Institutional Investment PlatformBusiness Wire

NEW YORK & CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dynasty Financial Partners and YCharts today announced a multiyear extension of their partnership to provide Dynasty’s Network Advisory Firms with YCharts’ web-based investment research platform within Dynasty [...]

NEW YORK & CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dynasty Financial Partners and YCharts today announced a multiyear extension of their partnership to provide Dynasty’s Network Advisory Firms with YCharts’ web-based investment research platform within Dynasty’s proprietary advisor dashboard, the Dynasty Desktop.

Dynasty has committed to serving both advisors who outsource their investment management, via their OCIO capabilities and access to separately managed accounts and unified managed accounts, as well as those who choose to take on the additional role of portfolio manager (“Advisors as PM, or “APM”). Along with direct access to YCharts, the platform includes rebalancing technology, operational support and other research tools, allowing advisors to manage portfolios efficiently and in a scaled manner.

Through its continued relationship with YCharts, Dynasty’s more than 450 advisors and support staff have full access to an industry-leading solution, YCharts Professional, which enables advisors to make more informed investment decisions, improve operational efficiency and create more compelling visual representations of their ideas. This partnership ensures that YCharts’ powerful investment research tools remain an important piece of Dynasty’s infrastructure for the long term.

According to Ed Swenson, Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder of Dynasty Financial Partners, “The independent space has always been about ‘best of breed technology.’ Providing our advisor network with some of the leading-edge tools and research continues to be an area of focus in our quest to empower wealth management teams to expand their business. Building YCharts into our plans for the long run ensures our advisors have access to the infrastructure, resources and support they need to productively serve their client base.”

“As a long-term partner to Dynasty, we’re providing Dynasty’s advisors with the data, tools and customer support necessary to enable them to make better-informed investment decisions,” said Sean Brown, President and CEO at YCharts. “We focus on saving our customers time, and with the Dynasty Desktop, RIAs have a powerful, integrated platform to achieve efficiency and better serve their clients.”

About Dynasty Financial Partners

Dynasty Financial Partners develops, sources and integrates management capabilities for some of the industry’s leading independent investment advisor firms and offers registered investment advisory services. Dynasty’s integrated platform services delivery chassis offers a customized, open-architecture wealth management solutions and technology platform supporting advisors as they protect and grow their clients’ wealth. Dynasty also offers access to capital to help advisors expand, scale and grow their business. Dynasty’s core principle is “objectivity without compromise,” and the firm is committed to crafting solutions that allow investment advisors to act as true fiduciaries to their clients. For more information, please visit dynastyfinancialpartners.com and follow us on Twitter @DynastyFP.

About YCharts

YCharts is a financial data and investment research platform that provides investors with comprehensive data, powerful visualization tools and advanced analytics. Industry professionals use YCharts for idea generation, analysis, alerts and updates from real-time news feeds to monitor the markets. YCharts has quickly become the go-to fast, intuitive, cost-effective financial research platform on the market. For more information, visit ycharts.com, contact sales@ycharts.com or follow us on Twitter @ycharts.

January 24, 2018

DOL Rule Still the Top Regulatory Concern for AdvisorsFinancial Advisor IQ

The Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule remains the top regulatory concern of financial advisors for 2018, even if its new full implementation date is 18 months away. Until the DOL rule is fully implemented on July 1, 2019 -- barring any changes to that date following an ongoing review -- retirement advisors are working on compliance requirements for the transition period. During the tran [...]

The Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule remains the top regulatory concern of financial advisors for 2018, even if its new full implementation date is 18 months away.

Until the DOL rule is fully implemented on July 1, 2019 -- barring any changes to that date following an ongoing review -- retirement advisors are working on compliance requirements for the transition period. During the transition period, retirement advisors who expect to make use of the Best Interest Contract Exemption are required to comply only with so-called Impartial Conduct Standards, which state that BICE users must "adhere to basic fiduciary norms and standards of fair dealing." Specifically, advisors must charge no more than reasonable compensation, avoid making materially misleading statements, and provide advice that is in the investor’s best interest.

For many advisors, the uncertainty of what the final DOL rule for retirement advisors will look like, whether the SEC will indeed produce its own version of a fiduciary rule for all advisors, or any other developments that could take place in the interim, are of great concern because of the potential impact on their practices.

"I would say the most important regulatory development we are monitoring is the DOL fiduciary rule. We don’t know whether the DOL will make changes to the rule during the review it intends to conduct between now and July 2019," says Dennis Stanek Jr., a Hartford, Conn.-based advisor at RBC Wealth Management. "It may be the case that the rule remains exactly as originally written and currently in force."

Stanek says RBC Wealth Management has expanded training programs for advisors, and it continues to enhance the tools and products advisors need to meet their obligations.

"The primary concern we and others in the industry previously raised about the rule was whether it introduces unnecessary complexity that may make it difficult for investors to obtain the financial services important to them," he says. "Over the coming months we will evaluate any changes the DOL may make, so we can provide our clients with the best possible products and services afforded under the regulation."

Bryan Sullivan, the San Luis Obispo, Calif.-based CEO and co-founder of WealthSource Partners, says there are many unanswered questions about how to be compliant with the DOL rule, but his main concern is how the fiduciary rule will impact his firm’s relationship with clients.

"In general, we’re concerned that the rule could cause expenses around retirement accounts to increase. We’re committed to 100% compliance but there is still so much that’s unclear or undecided on how this will play out," he says. "I’m afraid that the fiduciary rule in its latest iteration will create an environment that actually harms the individual investor. I believe that it will ultimately cause fees to go up for clients and that it will open doors for robo services or do-it-yourself services, which don’t provide true advice for people that need it."

Sullivan also worries about ambiguity when it comes to the interpretation of the compliance requirements of the fiduciary rule.

"We’ll do everything we need to be compliant with whatever version of fiduciary rule ends up being the law of the land. The problem is the regulatory powers do a terrible job of helping firms understand what it is that they want, and so you end up with 100 different versions of what it means to be compliant," he says. "Ultimately, best practices will evolve and the industry will adapt, but over the next several years I see a lot of confusion and large expenses being paid for all of us to figure this out."

With talk of the SEC entering the fiduciary requirement picture, Shirl Penney, New York-based president and CEO of Dynasty Financial Partners, says the industry needs clarity on the direction of the fiduciary standard and who will be responsible for oversight, and advisors want to understand what will be required of them. The SEC could be voting on a proposal for its own version of the fiduciary rule by the second quarter of this year.

The potential for a uniform fiduciary standard and the pressure to act as fiduciaries are among the top regulatory developments identified by around 400 broker-dealer advisors surveyed by Ignites Research as those that would have the most impact on their practices. According to the preliminary findings from a survey conducted in the fourth quarter of 2017, around 70% of the broker-dealer advisors cited the potential for a uniform fiduciary standard and around 54% cited the pressure to act as fiduciaries.

Norm Cook, Columbus, Ohio-based president and chief marketing officer of Halite Partners, says the DOL rule isn’t expected to have a significant impact on the firm, founded in June 2017, because it has already been acting as a fiduciary to its clients. But the participation of the SEC and state insurance regulators in the fiduciary discussion would have a significant impact on the firm if their involvement results in a universal fiduciary requirement.

At the Sifma annual conference in Washington, D.C. in October last year, SEC chairman Jay Clayton said he doesn’t want to pursue a uniform fiduciary standard across the industry, reasoning that there are different business models that apply to the way investor money is managed and that investors should be able to retain their freedom to choose their financial professionals. He said, however, his views are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SEC.

"The idea that there’s a silver bullet … that solves all of this, I think, is not something to pursue," he said at the time. "And the reason I say that is you can’t deliver everything that everyone would want. Some investors want a different relationship, a different standard."

Clayton said it is important to preserve the existence of various business models and investor choice when crafting fiduciary rules.

January 18, 2018

The RIA Channel Is ‘Ripe' For ConsolidationWealth Management

The registered investment advisory channel is “ripe” for consolidation, and a short list of firms capitalizing on the market environment have experienced tremendous growth in the last five years. From 2011 to 2016, three major consolidators–Dynasty Financial Partners, AMG Wealth Partners and Mariner Wealth Advisors–grew their affiliated assets under management by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of mor [...]

The registered investment advisory channel is “ripe” for consolidation, and a short list of firms capitalizing on the market environment have experienced tremendous growth in the last five years.

From 2011 to 2016, three major consolidators–Dynasty Financial Partners, AMG Wealth Partners and Mariner Wealth Advisors–grew their affiliated assets under management by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 45 percent, according to a new report by Cerulli Associates. In that same period, all independent RIAs grew by only 11.7 percent CAGR and hybrid RIAs by 10.7 percent.

There are now 18,225 retail-focused RIAs, up 17.5 percent from 15,522 in 2012, according to a recently published report by Cerulli Associates, and that rapid growth in the channel has fragmented it and created opportunity for established RIAs, broker/dealers and private equity firms.

The national and regional b/ds are growing at a faster clip than the RIA channel, but some consolidating firms have proven attractive to advisors and are becoming a formidable threat to b/ds, Cerulli says.

Highly publicized firms HighTower Advisors and Focus Financial Partners had five-year compound annual growth rates of 29 percent and 22 percent, respectively. Cerulli points out that while these firms have not yet announced initial public offerings, they're poised for future growth. And they have attracted the attention of private equity firms. In October, Thomas H. Lee Partners purchased a significant stake in HighTower, which oversees about $50 billion in clients assets. Last April, Focus announced that private equity firms Stone Point Capital and KKR would acquire about a 70 percent stake in the firm, valuing the company at about $2 billion.

Platforms, defined as those that allow RIAs to “rent” an end-to-end operating and support platform and do not take an equity stake, include affiliation options with Dynasty Financial Partners and HighTower’s Network. Financial acquirers, such as Focus Financial or AMG Wealth Partners, acquire and aggregate RIAs and realize financial gains through a liquidity event or cash flow distributions. United Capital and Mariner Wealth Advisors fit in the strategic acquirer category, according to the report, because they are large RIAs that acquire firms to grow market share with the intention of achieving other growth-oriented strategic objectives.

The segment an advisor or firm chooses to partner with is based largely on need and preference, the report said.

“Given the recent momentum behind aggregators and platforms, and the demand for operational and financing support, it is crucial for advisors to remain aware that not all consolidators are created equal,” Marina Shtyrkov, a research analyst at Cerulli Associates said in a note with the report. “The merits and drawbacks of each segment’s business model will often depend on the advisor’s motivations for affiliating with a larger partner.”

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

Dynasty Press

It’s almost comical. One hundred percent of former wirehouse or regional-brokerage advisors in the independent RIA channel are happier for having made the move. That’s according to a blind survey of 450 FAs by Dynasty Financial Partners — a sponsor that, as an infrastructure provider to breakaway RIAs, has to be pleased with the result. [...]

It’s almost comical. One hundred percent of former wirehouse or regional-brokerage advisors in the independent RIA channel are happier for having made the move. That’s according to a blind survey of 450 FAs by Dynasty Financial Partners — a sponsor that, as an infrastructure provider to breakaway RIAs, has to be pleased with the result.

Indeed, Dynasty’s CEO Shirl Penney says the survey confirms “advisors who choose independence are happier, less stressed and better able to serve their clients.”

Supporting this claim, no less than 96% of those polled think they “have greater upside” in their “earning opportunity” as a result of going independent; 96% say they now “have the ability to realize their business vision;” 93% agree they “have greater opportunity to build equity value;” and 93% reckon they “have more control over important business decisions.”

And the big numbers keep coming. Eighty-two percent of ex-wirehouse FAs now in RIAs say the transition is directly attributable to their ability to “provide conflict-free advice," and 72% believe their independence “allows them more freedom to focus on clients’ unique needs,” according to Dynasty’s Independent Advisor Survey.

Of course poll outcomes like that are bound to raise eyebrows. So we asked some breakaway advisors for their views on the lopsided feedback their peers provided in the Dynasty survey.

All we got was confirmation.

“We’re much happier at Summit Trail,” says Jack Petersen, a co-founder and managing partner of Summit Trail Advisors, a New York-based RIA with regional offices in San Francisco, Chicago, Boston and Chevy Chase, Md. “It was stressful in the first six months” after the firm’s mid-2015 launch, he admits. “But after that we started hitting our stride.”

Of Summit Trail’s 39 employees, Petersen says “34 of us came out of the wirehouse world,” so he figures the firm, which manages about $5.5 billion — including about $1 billion brought in this year organically — has a keen sense of what it’s like providing financial advice in different business models.

The biggest strike against major brokerages like Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch and UBS Financialcomes down to “the law of large numbers,” says Petersen, who began his career with Morgan Stanley before joining Lehman Brothers’ wealth management division and its post-meltdown successor unit at Barclays. “That’s no one’s fault: they have to make sure they’re protecting the firm by creating consistent policies and procedures.”

Though that’s a prudent course for trillion-dollar companies, it’s tough to provide truly customized services from a monolithic platform. Working from an RIA, however, allows for such tailoring, which Petersen sees as necessary to providing fiduciary services.

Advisor Blake Pratz, who left UBS early this year to co-found Houston-based Icon Wealth Partners, which manages about $650 million, agrees with that assessment.

Further, says Pratz, the Dynasty survey result of 100% agreement among breakaways that they’re in better boats now is nothing to wonder at given conditions at the wirehouses — “whether you want to look at compensation, the fact they’re devoid of cultural spirit or the fact that management there is out of reach.”

And though at breakaways the peripheral parts of life at a wirehouse might be missed — for example, some aspect of a particular reporting interface — Steve Schwarzbach, who left Morgan Stanley with FA Mark McAdams to co-found Icon with Pratz, says “You don’t make this kind of move if you’re going to focus on minor details.”

Rather, says Schwarzbach, “You do it because you have a strong feeling you’re going to make more money and you’re going to serve your clients better.”

And when an advisor puts their career on the line and takes action on that belief only to see it confirmed, the result is a surge of relief and happiness. “That’s what I think the survey points to,” says Schwarzbach.

“But,” cautions Pratz, “that doesn’t mean there aren’t frustrations” that come with independence. “That could be the two clients you thought of as sure things hesitating to follow; it could be the Friday morning call saying the system is down and you’re responsible for getting it back up.”

For all that, though, running your own firm means you’re likelier to head home at the end of the workday having given “good advice, and solved problems for clients,” according to Pratz. “You feel re-engaged, like you’re part of something bigger, and you can see it in your clients’ reactions and responses.”

Summit Trail’s Petersen understands that feeling. Since going independent, he says he’s “never been this excited to come into work every day.”

The unanimity on that score among breakaways reflected in the Dynasty survey makes sense to Jeff Spears as well. The president and head of wealth management at Fort Point Capital Partners in San Francisco used to run Sanctuary Wealth Services, a Dynasty-like support-service provider to independent RIAs.

Ex-wirehouse advisors who have joined or started RIAs “are happy to not be associated with the brand and management of their old firm,” Spears tells FA-IQ.

For some FAs, especially at a certain level of seniority, being tied to a big brokerage is simply a drag on business, Spears explains. Continuing in the relationship past that point exacts an “emotional toll” on advisors who stick it out. Conversely, advisors who go independent at that stage are apt to feel relief and happiness as their employer-related stress diminishes, he adds.

The tax overhaul is likely to give brokers a new incentive to leave traditional Wall Street firms in favor of going independent and setting up their own shops, says Rudy Adolf, head of Focus Financial Partners, a firm that helps advisers make that transition. As employees of a firm, “advisers pay ordinary rates–t [...]

But this time the players driving the boom aren’t day traders chasing dot-com riches. They are independent financial professionals known as registered investment advisers who manage rosters of typically affluent clients and trade on their behalf with the assets held at the brokerage firms.

By catering to these wealth managers, the brokerages have reinvigorated a business that was racked by the tech-stock bust at the beginning of the century and the financial crisis. Two of the firms leading the way in serving these customers, Charles Schwab & Corp. and TD Ameritrade HoldingCorp. , have pulled in about $200 billion combined in net new assets this year, most of which has come from the independent advisers, according to the companies. Smaller rival E*Trade FinancialCorp. made a recent acquisition to better tap this business.

While the discount brokers have long served independent advisers, the business has picked up in recent years. “Firms that set up custody businesses for financial advisers are reaping the benefit,” said Devin Ryan, managing director at JMP Securities LLC, as independent advisers “have been the fastest-growing area of the wealth-management industry.”

The boom underscores two trends that have been upending the wealth-management sector in recent years: The first is a wave of traditional brokers leaving firms like Bank of America Corp.’s Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley as they seek to keep more of the fees and commissions they generate, and to maintain greater control over their business and less pressure to market certain types of products, from proprietary funds to credit cards to mortgages. The second is a new federal retirement-saving regulation, known as the fiduciary rule, aimed at curbing conflicted investment advice that has forced traditional brokers to retool their business models.

By 2020, research firm Cerulli Associates predicts that independent advisers will control more assets than Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, UBS Group AG and other major brokerages combined.

Matthew Celenza, an independent financial adviser in Los Angeles, is among the converts. Mr. Celenza this year launched his own wealth-advisory business, Boulevard Family Wealth, with about $1 billion in assets after a six-year run with Merrill Lynch’s private banking and investment group. “Going independent gives us better positioning in the business,” Mr. Celenza said when he left Merrill in July.

Yet without the infrastructure provided by a traditional brokerage, finding a place to keep clients’ money was one of the first things Mr. Celenza had to do upon going independent. He went with Schwab and estimates that his clients save 0.15% to 0.20% in annual fees now that their assets are held at the discount brokerage versus his former firm.

“I know the perception is that Schwab is a discount brokerage,” Mr. Celenza said, but “they offer every service a large brokerage service would.”

Schwab CEO Walt Bettinger said in October that his firm has logged substantial increases in the number of advisers, up 35%, and assets coming over from broker-dealer firms. At Ameritrade, which ended its fiscal year in October, new client assets on the adviser side surpassed last year’s results by more than 50%, CEO Tim Hockey said in October, marking a record year for asset gathering.

Executives and analysts say the trends behind the discount brokerage boom are poised to continue, thanks in part to an increase in consumer awareness about the impact of investment fees and the differences between brokers and advisers. Registered investment advisers have for decades been required to put clients’ interests first and typically charge fees, while brokers have operated under a standard in which they could recommend products that would pay them the most in commissions as long as the investment was deemed suitable.

“Fee-based, fiduciary models are the fastest growing areas of the industry,” said JMP Securities’ Mr. Ryan, and “there’s massive market share opportunity” for “firms that set up custodial businesses for [independent advisers] and are reaping the benefit.” He said the four big custodians—Schwab, Ameritrade, Fidelity Investments and Pershing, a unit of Bank of New York Mellon Corp.—have about 50% of the market for independent advisers and they continue to make inroads as they invest in their platforms.

Schwab and Ameritrade both attribute their strong net new asset growth largely to independent adviser clients. In the latest quarter, Schwab said core net new assets climbed 72%, or $51.6 billion, from a year earlier, while Ameritrade reported $19.9 billion in net new assets for the period, a 32% year-over-year increase. For Schwab, assets brought in by independent adviser clients rose by more than two-thirds; Ameritrade said such money accounted for about 80% of its net new asset growth.

Meanwhile, E*Trade Chief Executive Officer Karl Roessner said during the company’s latest earnings call in October that E-Trade has been losing assets to independent firms, among others, and handles just about 10% of customers’ investible wealth. “Accordingly, we have been searching for the optimal way to approach this population,” he said on the call in discussing a deal to buy a custodian firm.

Observers say the discount brokerages are poised to gain more share of investor dollars as the independent adviser ranks expand. Dynasty Financial Partners, a firm that supports independent advisers and helps them break away from brokerages, has brought more than $25 billion in assets to firms, including Schwab and Fidelity, said CEO Shirl Penney. “The lifeblood is assets, and they’re going one way, to the [independent adviser] space,” he said.

December 13, 2017

Biggest recruiting moves in 2017Financial Planning

It was a big year for recruiting moves. Nearly two dozen mega teams ― those managing $1 billion or more in client assets ― switched employers in 2017, according to hiring announcements. [...]

It was a big year for recruiting moves. Nearly two dozen mega teams ― those managing $1 billion or more in client assets ― switched employers in 2017, according to hiring announcements.

That's double the figure for 2016, though about on par with 2015.

The moves this year represented more than $43 billion in client assets and reflect the upheaval transforming the recruiting landscape. Three of the wirehouses have cut back on hiring efforts. Meanwhile, UBS and Morgan Stanley have exited the Broker Protocol ― which spurred a raft of advisor departures. Though nearly all of the mega teams left wirehouses, almost none joined another wirehouse. Instead, they formed independent firms or joined smaller regional brokerages, which have been on a recruiting tear this year.

RBC, Baird, Dynasty Financial Partners and J.P. Morgan Securities, a small boutique wealth management unit, were among the big winners.

Though these and other firms are ending the year on a strong note, 2017 did not start out promising, according to recruiters.

Uncertainty around the fiduciary rule and the Trump administration's intentions with regard to the controversial regulation spurred many advisors to stay in a holding pattern.

"People were really understandably leery about joining a firm and not knowing what their policy on retirement accounts would be because that was kind of a work in progress," Mark Elzweig, a recruiter and On Wall Street contributor, says.

The breakaway advisor movement also picked up steam this year, in part because of the success past breakaways have had.

"We've seen teams that are going independent now are larger than they ever were before," says recruiter Louis Diamond. "It's partly because of the validation of other groups that have done it, the advancement of platforms and introduction of service providers in the space like Dynasty and Hightower that have enabled it to be so."

Although the Broker Protocol's future may be in doubt, advisor moves will likely continue because the reasons brokers want to switch firms haven't changed, according to industry insiders.

To see where the industry's biggest teams went in 2017, read the below article:

What advisers should consider before taking a capital infusionInvestment News

Many RIAs have access to external cash, but should be clear on how that money would be used and the motivations and time line of the investor [...]

Advisory firm valuations might be nearing a top, but advisers should not expect the appetite for investing in their businesses to drop off anytime soon.

"Our industry is all of a sudden very fashionable, and we are awash in capital," said Rich Gill, partner at Wealth Partners Capital Group, during a panel discussion Wednesday at The MarketCounsel Summit in Miami.

"What's really important is understanding the motivations of the capital and their time lines," he said. "If you think you're going to need capital down the road, I would start educating yourself now to be more prepared when the right time comes."

Mr. Rich was joined on the panel by Marty Bicknell, chief executive of Mariner Wealth Advisors, and Shirl Penney, president and chief executive of Dynasty Financial Partners.

Access to capital for registered investment advisers can come in many forms, including both debt and equity financing, and from private-equity investors or a longer-term partnership.

Mr. Penney said the primary reasons an RIA considers outside capital are ownership diversification, to invest in the business, to make acquisitions and to finance succession planning.

But whatever the reason, the panelists stressed being as informed and prepared as possible before entering into any kind of capital agreement.

"You have to understand what the motivation is of the outside investor," Mr. Penney said. "And the best time to raise capital and sell a piece of your business is when you don't have to."

In other words, if you're desperately seeking a capital infusion, you are putting yourself at a disadvantage.

In terms of preparation, which Mr. Gill said should begin at least three years before actually taking outside capital, the idea is to make an RIA presentable but also in a position to stand up to strict scrutiny from potential investors.

"Think about professionalizing your organization," Mr. Bicknell said. "If I can't see a bench, then I worry about my risks. A strong organization built around a strong leader tends to push me to the higher end of the valuation range."

Mr. Penney advised establishing a board of outside directors to help guide the process.

In terms of valuations, panelists agreed that assets under management is not the biggest factor.

"Growth and scale are key elements of valuations, but the other thing is people," Mr. Gill said. "You can't have a situation where if a person gets sick for two weeks the business comes to a screeching halt. You need a next generation of advisers, operational staff and professional folks. As an industry, not enough firms have made the necessary investments or the necessary partnerships."

For RIAs just starting to consider outside capital, the good news is, there is plenty of time to get ready.

"Regarding the opportunity for capital wanting to come to this business, there's plenty of runway and it will be around for years," Mr. Bicknell said. "But I do think valuations have run a little too high."

March 09, 2017

As Dynasty Financial hits $20 billion of RIA assets in seven years, it hires its first de facto chief AUM-boosting officer to hit $40 billion far faster
RIA Biz

Brooke's Note: If you think of the RIA business as a giant laboratory of business models, a signal invention is Dynasty Financial, which, defying ready categorization, is an audacious hybrid of outsourcer, study group, roll-up, TAMP and a place where Morgan Stanley Smith Barney alumni can transition away from a brokerage base by assisting RIAs' CEOs. That's as opposed to chiselling corner-office brokers out of their wirehouse corner offices and recreating them as investment advisors. This hire of Joe Rizzo reflects that shift and appears to be a hopeful sign that Dynasty is well into Phase II clinical trials.

Joseph Rizzo had barely begun his new job when his responsibilities began expanding.

Since Feb. 1, when Dynasty Financial Partners announced its hire of Rizzo as director of RIA growth strategies – a new position – the New York-based advisor and outsourcer has been dotting the calendar with announcements of new firms joining its network.

On March 1, it was Crescent Wealth Advisory of Atlanta, a new offshoot of life insurance consultancy firm Crescent Wealth Management. The next week, it was Houston-based Icon Wealth Partners, a combo breakaway (Morgan Stanley and UBS) whose founders managed a combined $750 million in client assets. See: As Dynasty Financial hits $20 billion of RIA assets in seven years, it hires its first de facto chief AUM-boosting officer to hit $40 billion far faster.

Las Vegas-based Buckley Wealth Management, a Morgan Stanley breakaway that managed $600 million for clients, joined earlier in late 2016 and in January, Claybrook Capital of Boston joined the Dynasty network after managing $300 million at Robertson Stephens. See: How exactly five ex-Barclays advisors and one analyst across three time zones combined to make a $3 billion RIA.

Even so, Rizzo’s client roster – currently comprised of 41 advisory firms – will need to get longer and deeper still to take advantage of the industry trend toward independence from wirehouses and the need of already independent firms to make leaps forward in management, capital spending and technology in order to compete and grow. See: The inner orchestration of Dynasty, Addepar and Pershing/BNY Mellon it took to harmonize a $1.4 billion Merrill Lynch family office team.

'Better CEOs'

Dynasty is shifting its focus toward the latter group and that’s where Rizzo comes in, according to Dynasty CEO Shirl Penney.

"For sure our fastest growing segment right now is legacy RIA’s signing up to outsource to us to get back to growth mode and focus more on clients," he says. "The top focus of RIAs we see right now is focus on rapid professionalization of their businesses and becoming better CEOs."

For those more than three dozen Dynasty-using firms – representing more than 100 advisors who oversee north of $20 billion in combined assets – Rizzo will help RIAs grow by mergers and acquisitions, along with ways to bring aboard more assets.

Rizzo, raised in New York, is based in Manhattan, reporting directly to his longtime friend and ex-Smith Barney colleague, now Dynasty founder and CEO, Shirl Penney.

Rizzo joins Dynasty from from Steward Partners Global Advisory LLC of New York, where he served as president since 2014 and helped advisors launch their own firms. Steward Partners Global Advisory, which owns the consulting unit where Rizzo worked, did not respond to an inquiry regarding his departure and questions about the unit’s continuing operations.

Before Steward, Rizzo’s two decades-plus of experience was at Morgan Stanley Global Wealth Management and Smith Barney, When he left Morgan Stanley in 2014 for Steward, Rizzo was an executive director.

RIABiz talked with Rizzo about his move to Dynasty and how his new position aligns with Dynasty’s existing relationship with independent advisory firms. See: After several quiet months, Dynasty Financial hunts a big ex-Citi head to unblock the sales process and make good it's original promise to corner-office prospects.

RIABiz: You were only at Steward Partners for 2-1/2 years. It’s only noteworthy because prior to that you were at Morgan Stanley for nearly six years and before that at Smith Barney (before its merger with Morgan Stanley’s Wealth Management Group in early 2009) for 15 years. Why did you leave Steward and join Dynasty?

Rizzo: I was at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney for 21 years and it was a great place to work and learn the business.

Joseph Rizzo: It became really hard not to listen (to Shirl Penney's overtures).s.As Dynasty Financial hits $20 billion of RIA assets in seven years, it hires its first de facto chief AUM-boosting officer to hit $40 billion far faster

CEO Shirl Penney installs Joseph Rizzo with a no-excuses Wall Street weaponry like M&A expertise, boundless capital and opportunities to coach CEOness to RIAs as Dynasty hopes to shift out of critical mass phase into being a critical force

43 minutes ago by Sarah O’Brien

0 CommentsBrooke's Note: If you think of the RIA business as a giant laboratory of business models, a signal invention is Dynasty Financial, which, defying ready categorization, is an audacious hybrid of outsourcer, study group, roll-up, TAMP and a place where Morgan Stanley Smith Barney alumni can transition away from a brokerage base by assisting RIAs' CEOs. That's as opposed to chiselling corner-office brokers out of their wirehouse corner offices and recreating them as investment advisors. This hire of Joe Rizzo reflects that shift and appears to be a hopeful sign that Dynasty is well into Phase II clinical trials.

Joseph Rizzo had barely begun his new job when his responsibilities began expanding.

Since Feb. 1, when Dynasty Financial Partners announced its hire of Rizzo as director of RIA growth strategies – a new position – the New York-based advisor and outsourcer has been dotting the calendar with announcements of new firms joining its network.

On March 1, it was Crescent Wealth Advisory of Atlanta, a new offshoot of life insurance consultancy firm Crescent Wealth Management. The next week, it was Houston-based Icon Wealth Partners, a combo breakaway (Morgan Stanley and UBS) whose founders managed a combined $750 million in client assets. See: As Dynasty Financial hits $20 billion of RIA assets in seven years, it hires its first de facto chief AUM-boosting officer to hit $40 billion far faster.

Las Vegas-based Buckley Wealth Management, a Morgan Stanley breakaway that managed $600 million for clients, joined earlier in late 2016 and in January, Claybrook Capital of Boston joined the Dynasty network after managing $300 million at Robertson Stephens. See: How exactly five ex-Barclays advisors and one analyst across three time zones combined to make a $3 billion RIA.

Even so, Rizzo’s client roster – currently comprised of 41 advisory firms – will need to get longer and deeper still to take advantage of the industry trend toward independence from wirehouses and the need of already independent firms to make leaps forward in management, capital spending and technology in order to compete and grow. See: The inner orchestration of Dynasty, Addepar and Pershing/BNY Mellon it took to harmonize a $1.4 billion Merrill Lynch family office team.

'Better CEOs'Dynasty is shifting its focus toward the latter group and that’s where Rizzo comes in, according to Dynasty CEO Shirl Penney.

"For sure our fastest growing segment right now is legacy RIA’s signing up to outsource to us to get back to growth mode and focus more on clients," he says. "The top focus of RIAs we see right now is focus on rapid professionalization of their businesses and becoming better CEOs."

For those more than three dozen Dynasty-using firms – representing more than 100 advisors who oversee north of $20 billion in combined assets – Rizzo will help RIAs grow by mergers and acquisitions, along with ways to bring aboard more assets.

Rizzo, raised in New York, is based in Manhattan, reporting directly to his longtime friend and ex-Smith Barney colleague, now Dynasty founder and CEO, Shirl Penney.

Rizzo joins Dynasty from from Steward Partners Global Advisory LLC of New York, where he served as president since 2014 and helped advisors launch their own firms. Steward Partners Global Advisory, which owns the consulting unit where Rizzo worked, did not respond to an inquiry regarding his departure and questions about the unit’s continuing operations.

Before Steward, Rizzo’s two decades-plus of experience was at Morgan Stanley Global Wealth Management and Smith Barney, When he left Morgan Stanley in 2014 for Steward, Rizzo was an executive director.

RIABiz talked with Rizzo about his move to Dynasty and how his new position aligns with Dynasty’s existing relationship with independent advisory firms. See: After several quiet months, Dynasty Financial hunts a big ex-Citi head to unblock the sales process and make good it's original promise to corner-office prospects.

RIABiz: You were only at Steward Partners for 2-1/2 years. It’s only noteworthy because prior to that you were at Morgan Stanley for nearly six years and before that at Smith Barney (before its merger with Morgan Stanley’s Wealth Management Group in early 2009) for 15 years. Why did you leave Steward and join Dynasty?

Rizzo: I was at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney for 21 years and it was a great place to work and learn the business.

LogoWHITE PAPERWHITE PAPERLike everyone, I began noticing the ongoing movement to independence and wanted to go more the entrepreneur route and thus I partnered up with some former Smith Barney friends at Steward. How Ex-Morgan Stanley powers are rolling up ex-colleagues into Steward Partners and how big Raymond James cash fits into the picture I’ve been friends with Shirl for a long time -- dating back to his Smith Barney days -- and am impressed by what he and the founders of Dynasty have built. When the opportunity recently presented itself to become part of this team and be involved in the next evolution of the firm’s growth, it became really hard not to listen.

I’m honored to have had the opportunity with Steward Partners and cheer for them and their success. Shirl and [Steward Chairman] Mike [Maurer] are friendly too. One of the great attributes of the old Smith Barney was we really thought of each other as partners and much of that carries forward today as the alumni tend to pull for each other. See: How heavy the lifting was to get a $1-billion wirehouse team to independence in 2014 after a de facto false start in 2007.

[Editor's note: In the wake of this interview, AdvisorHub reported that Michael Maurer, executive chairman and a co-founder of Steward Partners Global Advisory, suddenly exited the firm under apparently acrimonious circumstances. The publication quotes an emailed note written purportedly by Maurer, a former Morgan Stanley complex manager in Washington, DC, and sent to friends and colleagues. “The how and why of my separation from Steward is likely to be the subject of extensive litigation.”]

RIABiz: Have you taken an equity position in Dynasty?

Rizzo: Equity ownership is a big part of the culture at Dynasty. Just about all new team members, regardless of their role, are offered an opportunity to invest in Dynasty, in addition to being offered options; they are usually tied to performance and tenure with the firm. I was very excited to become an owner and investor in Dynasty and am equally excited about the future opportunities for the business and am hopeful I can do my part in driving growth for our clients.

RIABiz: Why did Dynasty create this position now? How does your position fit into Dynasty’s business plan?

Rizzo: This position was created to play a significant role in Dynasty’s growth plan.

My role then is to sit at that crossroads between the growing Dynasty network and outside world of RIAs looking for a succession plan, IBD and breakaway advisors looking to join RIAs, and our finance team that makes the capital to fuel the growth available. There has never been a better time than now to be doing what I am doing.

The other side of this is to coach and help guide our network firms who want to grow inorganically to professionalize their practices to prepare their firms for acquisition. Not every firm is ready to acquire practices into the fold of their enterprises. This leverages lots of my experience through the years as a manager and coach running professional development programs, and as a practice-management consultant.

RIABiz: It appears that Dynasty is making a big push to help its client firms grow through M&A. Why now? Is this a new focus?

Rizzo: Not a new focus, just a new methodology on how Dynasty will approach the space. Clearly the movement from wirehouse to independence will continue to happen, especially as these advisors get educated on the benefits and the process of transitioning. Close to half of our opportunities now are originating from the already-independent channel as advisors want to be independent, but not alone, while being able to own their upside by not being forced to sell equity or give up control. Last thought on this is regarding succession, which I mentioned earlier. With close to half of the advisor population being over 55 years old, we want to be a strong resource and solution for these advisors wanting to move toward retirement.

RIABiz: Is the service above and beyond what firms in the Dynasty Network are paying for?

Rizzo: No additional charge.

RIABiz: Will Dynasty be underwriting, or involved in, financing for any M&A activity among client firms?

Rizzo: We will have financing available through Dynasty that will be presented with other options so we maintain an open architecture. While debt is typically cheaper than equity as a tool to acquire another business, for fast-growing RIAs there are circumstances where other structures make sense so we help our clients look at all the options. Dynasty has funded well into the eight figures of loans to RIAs to fuel their growth and expects that being a growth capital provider will continue to be something that our clients will appreciate as an offering. See: Dynasty Financial leads a second $1 billion-range team -- now Fidelity RIA -- out of Wall Street in as many weeks.

RIABiz: With the potential for financing acquisitions, how do you avoid conflicts of interest between what’s essentially banking activity and the service side of the business?

Rizzo: Since advisors own their business and Dynasty has no control over the firms we service, they can choose to leverage the financing platform or not on an as-needed basis.

RIABiz: Has Dynasty taken an equity position in any of its firms or does it plan to?

Rizzo: We have not taken any equity stakes in our clients' firms. For the most part, we benefit from a positive selection bias -- meaning that our clients see their best days in front of them professionally and thus want to own their equity and upside. They also have very healthy cash flow and want to own both the enhanced cash flow. We help them drive by leveraging our size and scale and the equity upside as business grows over time.

RIABiz: With the plans for growth among Dynasty firms, how do you prevent this network from becoming no different from existing financial behemoths, thus losing the "independent" tag?

Rizzo: With our increased growth comes a stronger responsibility is to stay nimble so we innovate before their demands and advocate with our scale for better products, better services and better pricing.

RIABiz: It sounds like Dynasty’s platform is built in the spirit of the fiduciary era. What are your thoughts on the uncertainty of the DOL fiduciary rule?

Rizzo: Yes, Dynasty is an advocate for client transparency and feels that the ongoing separation of advice from product manufacturing will continue as both advisors and clients come to get educated on the benefits of the more independent model. See: Proposed DOL regs expose more advisors to fiduciary liability

Assets are flowing really only one way in our industry and that is towards the independent arena as more advisors migrate to the space and as those in the space grow faster organically. That said, on DOL issues, I personally try and stay away from things I can’t control. But the world is getting more complex, not less. As business owners, the more certainty we have, the better we can be at making long-term investments, so from that standpoint I think getting to a clear decision point for the industry is important.

He had observed an accelerated trend of wirehouse advisers with ultrahigh-net-worth clients outgrowing their platforms and going independent. He saw an opportunity.

After meeting with about 50 registered investment advisers, along with custodians and turnkey asset management providers, Mr. Penney came away with a thesis: Advisers are asking for simplicity and integration.

His answer to that need was Dynasty, an integrated platform company focused on the specialized needs of top RIA firms across the country.

“Our innovation was to aggregate a community of like-minded RIAs into a large buying unit, similar in size to an institutional investor,” Mr. Penney, 40, said. “This enables connectivity across the whole industry to get more choice, with access to products for their level of need, along with our proprietary technology.”

A major focus of the company is to enable advisers to offer conflict-free advice and collaboration. In six years, the company has grown to about 40 members with more than $25 billion in assets under management.

Mr. Penney, who launched his firm at age 34, displayed a fearlessness and drive that sprang from living in poverty as a child.

Raised by his step-grandfather in rural Maine, Mr. Penney was homeless from age 11 through 12. He persevered, making it to college and then Wall Street.

“Despite what people told me, I had a belief in myself and wanted to live a life that would make my grandfather proud,” he said. “When you go to bed cold and hungry, that’s a motivator.”

Shirl’s predictions about a Trump administration’s impact on the RIA space

Why Dynasty offers its employees equity

The biggest challenges facing Dynasty

What the best advisors are doing differently

Shirl’s charitable passions and interest in thoroughbred racing

November 23, 2016

Trump's Tax Plan Threatens to Soften SMA Sales PitchFundfire

Lower tax rates for top earners could soon be a reality, with president-elect Donald Trumppoised to take on the presidency and Republicans controlling both houses of Congress. While welcome news for some wealthy investors, the prospect could prove a headwind for separately managed accounts (SMA) strategies focused on tax efficiency, industry sources say. [...]

Lower tax rates for top earners could soon be a reality, with president-elect Donald Trumppoised to take on the presidency and Republicans controlling both houses of Congress. While welcome news for some wealthy investors, the prospect could prove a headwind for separately managed accounts (SMA) strategies focused on tax efficiency, industry sources say.

Tax-friendly strategies, such as tax-managed equity and municipal bond strategies, have been amongst the fastest growing parts of the SMA industry in recent years. Indeed, SMA managers have touted the tax loss harvesting capabilities of the vehicle as a key selling point. Unlike a mutual fund, investors own the underlying securities within an SMA, allowing them to write off losses at the individual security level.

In fact, more than two-thirds of financial advisors surveyed by FundFire for a recently released research report, said that they used SMAs for tax management. Of those who did, 46% said they performed tax loss harvesting themselves, while 26% used a tax management overlay, and another 28% said they relied on an SMA manager for tax management techniques.

But tax efficiency could become a less effective selling point for SMA managers if the new Republican administration follows through with proposed plans to effectively lower the top short- and long-term capital gains rates, says Ryan Nauman, market specialist at Informa Investment Solutions.

“SMAs really benefit because of the tax efficiencies that they offer,” Nauman says. “So with lower taxes, that would reduce some of the demand and that would be the biggest drawback or side effect of the new president and new policies [on the SMA industry].”

The incoming president has proposed lowering the top effective tax rate, which also applies to short-term capital gains, to 33% from 39.6%, and eliminating the net investment income tax, which would essentially lower the top effective long-term capital gains rate to 20% from 23.8%, when including that tax.

“I think the demand for municipal SMAs or those tax managed SMAs could definitely decrease if Trump gets his proposed new tax brackets passed,” Nauman says.

But other industry sources say that even with lower taxes, they wouldn’t expect demand for tax-efficient SMA strategies to abate.

Even if tax rates go lower, “the fact is we’re still going to have death and taxes, so tax efficient strategies are still going to be in vogue,” says Bill Kennedy, CIO of Fieldpoint Private.

“The ability to compound wealth over a market cycle, and certainly over generations, is very dependent on the after-tax rate of return,” Kennedy says. “Ensuring that is optimized is very important when the statutory tax rate is at 39%. It’s still equally important if the statutory rate is 33%.”

“Philosophically, what’s critical here is not whether it’s higher taxes or lower taxes,” Kennedy says. “It’s that after-tax [and after fee] return a manager can generate. We don’t think the emphasis on tax optimization will decline.”

The 33% short-term and 20% long-term top capital gains rates under Trump’s plan would be comparable to the Bush tax cut era, when short-term gains were taxed at 35% and long-term gains were taxed at 15%. That period still experienced high-demand for tax management strategies, explains Rey Santodomingo, director of tax managed equities for Parametric Portfolio Associates.

The fact that investors could be left with more money to invest, due to less going to taxes, could be a boon to asset managers, Santodomingo says.

“It might actually free up more assets to flow into these index-based strategies, because some investors might look at the lower tax rate as an opportunity to diversify out of stocks they’ve been holding onto for a while,” Santodomingo says.

In addition, increased market volatility could provide more opportunity for tax loss harvesting, which could be a boon to tax-managed equity SMAs, Santodomingo says.

“Trump has been calling for change, and I think change will kind of translate to volatility in the market as the plan unfolds,” Santodomingo says. “If there is market volatility, then tax managed strategies are a great way to take advantage of that volatility [through] systematic loss harvesting.”

The other area in the SMA market that has benefited from wealthy investor interest in managing tax exposures is municipal bond strategies. Municipal bond SMA strategies had grown to represent 33.7% of the overall SMA industry assets in the first quarter of 2016, compared to just 10% in 2007, according to data from the Money Management Institute(MMI) and Dover Financial Research. And municipal bond SMAs have continued to gain strong flows this year, with municipal bond SMAs tracked by Informa netting nearly $12.9 billion in net flows year to date.

And while high tax rates have benefitted municipal bond SMAs, the prospect of lower taxes may not be enough to cause wealthy investors to pull back from the asset class, observers say.

When it comes to municipal bonds, tax rates are not the only factor that matters, Kennedy says.

“I think there’s a false assessment that it’s really the tax rates that drive munis, when in fact it’s really default risk and liquidity risk that drive munis and help to explain why munis trade at a premium or discount to treasuries,” Kennedy says.

The new administration’s policies may not be all bad news for municipal bond SMAs, Kennedy says.

“While lower tax rates may prove to be a bit of a headwind for munis, there are other things about the new administration’s plan that could be potential tailwinds,” Kennedy says.

He points to the proposal to repeal Dodd-Frank, which could inject more liquidity into the municipal bond market. In addition, the prospect of potentially higher economic growth, and a proposed tax holiday that could encourage corporations to repatriate profits held offshore, could be credit positive factors for municipal bonds, Kennedy says.

Lower taxes could be a potential headwind to tax efficient equity and municipal bond SMA strategies, but demand is unlikely to evaporate completely, as individuals in the top bracket will still likely look for tax efficiency, says Nauman, of Informa.

And other factors, such as the impending Department of Labor (DOL) fiduciary rule, could also help offset any reduced demand for tax management capabilities, Nauman adds.

“The DOL regulation could offset some of that weakened demand, as some financial advisors look to SMAs to outsource the investment management process,” Nauman. Despite speculation that the Trump administration may attempt to roll back the DOL fiduciary rule, and other regulation, it seems unlikely that the rule will be completely scrapped, Nauman says.

In addition, the money investors may save on taxes could be put back to work benefiting mangers.

“That extra money that investors are saving by not having to pay taxes could go to investing in other assets, other SMA strategies,” Nauman says.

The Summit reminds me every year just how exceptional the Dynasty Network is. The elite firms comprising the Network represent cutting-edge strategies, industry-leading innovation and world-class client service. It’s inspiring to spend time with these leaders, and it’s why the Summit is always the highlight of my year [...]

The Summit reminds me every year just how exceptional the Dynasty Network is. The elite firms comprising the Network represent cutting-edge strategies, industry-leading innovation and world-class client service. It’s inspiring to spend time with these leaders, and it’s why the Summit is always the highlight of my year.

People do business with People. Trusting relationships with clients are Dynasty’s only asset. Revering and strengthening these relationships will continue to garner all of Dynasty’s time and effort.

There’s power in partnership. When clients and their advisors have the same goals, magic happens. And every time communication improves, value gets created in numerous ways. The Aspen Summit revolved around these themes.

Because it’s so special, the independent space will become increasingly competitive. Dynasty clients welcome competition because they understand it ultimately benefits their clients. But it’s no longer enough to just be independent…firms must actively differentiate themselves in the market. I challenged every speaker at our Aspen Summit to add new context to this differentiation. They met the challenge, and our clients benefited. On behalf of the network, I thank our resource partners and presenters for their dedication to the craft and for sharing countless insights.

Love what you do. I love what I do because taking on so many operational and growth concerns for our clients often enables these professionals to magnify their humanity. In communities across the country, our clients are committed to creating a safer environment, funding new research on cancer and autism, protecting the defenseless, finding solutions to poverty, improving education to disadvantaged communities and “paying it forward” in so many other ways. I’m truly touched by the stories I hear every year at the Summit and proud to be in business with this community….a family indeed.

Shirl

The Dynasty Partners Summit is an annual, invitation only event open exclusively to the principals of Dynasty’s Network Firms, select Dynasty Resource Partners, special guest speakers and senior members of the Dynasty Team. The Partners Summit is a unique opportunity to have members of Network Firms convene in an exclusive and intimate setting in order to engage, inform and leverage each firm in the community and share best practices and specialties across the entire Network. The 2016 Summit was held at Hotel Jerome in Aspen, Colorado.

November 07, 2016

Get it right: Selling a practiceFinancial Planning

Having worked with investment bankers, private-equity executives, and registered investment adviser buyers and sellers over the past several years, I would like to share best practices for selling an RIA. These include how to position an RIA in advance of a sale, how to be an educated negotiator and how to command the best price. [...]

For advisers, selling their practices may be the largest financial transaction they will ever handle.

Having worked with investment bankers, private-equity executives, and registered investment adviser buyers and sellers over the past several years, I would like to share best practices for selling an RIA. These include how to position an RIA in advance of a sale, how to be an educated negotiator and how to command the best price.

BEFORE THE SALE

Ideally, advisers should be making changes to their businesses a few years before they expect to sell and should keep in mind that the best time to often sell a business is when it doesn’t have to be sold.

We tell the advisers with whom we work to keep very clean and clear books and records. Having to explain things later or clean them up before a sale can be expensive.

And we recommend that advisers research the factors that are valuation drivers so that they will be able to move toward activities that enhance valuation and will be more educated negotiators when the time comes for the sale.

There are several good industry books now that highlight the process of maximizing an RIA and lots of firms such as Dynasty Financial Partners that can be sounding boards in the process. Second opinions rarely hurt.

DURING THE SALE

During the sale process, it is important to keep a calm demeanor and a cool head. One common mistake that sellers can make is only talking to one buyer.

Oftentimes, advisers either fall in love with the first story that they hear or they aren’t educated about the various options available. For some sellers, a sale to a financial buyer might be fine, but for others a strategic acquisition might be a better fit, and for others, facilitating an internal sale is the right succession option.

Being thoughtful about the process can ensure that clients and employees get the right outcome and valuations are in line with market comparables.

Another mistake is advisers thinking that they can time a sale.

We hear people say, “I’ll sell in two years.”

Well, who knows what the market will be like in two years? It is best to be flexible regarding timing, as prices can fluctuate widely depending on market sentiment.

There are lots of lenders out there, including Dynasty Financial Partners, to help facilitate an internal transfer of ownership. For larger sellers, an investment banker can help run a professional process.

There are more investment banks now entering the area as the RIA cottage industry continues to grow and evolve rapidly, so advisers who go that route should be sure to interview more than one banker. Regardless of the size, strive to approach the process in a professional way.

In short, it is much like the advice that an adviser would give any entrepreneur client who is considering selling a business. In that regard, advisers need to be sure that they follow their own advice when it comes to selling their own businesses.

Shirl Penney is the chief executive and president of Dynasty Financial Partners in New York.

1

2

3

4

Dynasty Press

At Dynasty, our most successful transitions were executed with advisors who had done exhaustive due diligence before deciding to move to the independent space. The due diligence allows time to mentally prepare for the change, consider whether the move is right for you and your clients, plus give you new perspective on various options. We encourage advisors to look a [...]

For advisors considering the RIA space, a few lessons learned on the client side are key to a successful transition.

Do your due diligence

At Dynasty, our most successful transitions were executed with advisors who had done exhaustive due diligence before deciding to move to the independent space. The due diligence allows time to mentally prepare for the change, consider whether the move is right for you and your clients, plus give you new perspective on various options. We encourage advisors to look at all the various options available, to learn the language of the RIA space and to talk to their peers or other advisors already in the space. In other words, doing your homework today may prevent regret tomorrow.

The battle is won in preparation

Any transition to independence requires a significant amount of work, which in itself can be chaotic. We developed a 150-item checklist and project plan that helps to provide order to the move, plus software to help manage the transition in a secure and confidential manner. The best transitions are led by advisors and teams who make sure all their work on the front end is done prior to their move.

Perform a detailed financial analysis

We spend a good amount of time helping to teach the language of independence from a P&L perspective. We work with advisors to run detailed P&L analysis on their new business. The best advisors know what their startup costs will be, fixed and variable costs going forward, and targeted gross and net margin levels before they launch. They then decide if they will self-finance, take a loan, sell a piece of equity or some other option. These advisors take a disciplined approach to managing their finances through the transition in order to be able to hit preset financial hurdles.

Tackle big items first

We tend to encourage teams to tackle the big items around the move first. In general, we find that picking a name, finding and negotiating real estate, determining equity splits, building operating documents, getting seed capital in place, building brand and marketing pieces, and getting ADV work done are some of the bigger items that can take time and slow down a transition. Get in front of these items first so they don’t slow you down later.

Map for success

It’s important to do detail capability mapping for your clients. Investing the time to map unique investment product needs, loan products and rates, manager access and pricing, research and trading needs, and any alternative investment needs will prevent any surprises for you and your clients later. The most successful transitioning advisors we work with were relentless on behalf of their clients, making sure they could do everything their client needed and, in some cases, more, on the move to independence.

Practice client communication

We have partnered with advisors on some of the fastest transitions in the RIA industry and have seen several transitions actually completed in as short a time as a month. In all of these expedited transitions, the advisors invested time in role-playing conversations with clients and media. Writing out talking points and rehearsing the conversations, creating an anticipated FAQ list and answers, and practicing it with your team will have you ready come transition time.

Be mentally ready for the administrative push

The best advisors and teams making the move to the independent space understand that it is going to be roughly six months of heavy lifting ahead of them. Often times we suggest adding some temp staff to help with paperwork during the transition. However, being mentally and physically ready for the administrative grind is important. We encourage teams to put proper rewards and incentives in place, to over-communicate with family around the transition time frame and to celebrate as family and involve them where it makes sense. We also look for ways to make it fun and keep energy up while encouraging employees to get proper rest as they prepare to make the move.

Don’t jump the gun

Almost without exception we hear from teams “I wish I had done this sooner.” While success breeds more success and it’s easier today than ever before to make the move to independence, it's important that advisors make the move at the right pace and time for them and their teams. Rushing things can have a negative impact on your new business; too much thoughtful preparation for your move to independence can never be a bad thing.

Family Wealth Report caught up with the chief executive at Dynasty Financial Partners about the firm's success and how this reflects the evolving wealth management landscape. Many positive developments led to an increase in US advisor headcount in 2014 – for the first time in nine years – by 1.1 per cent. There [...]

Family Wealth Report caught up with the chief executive at Dynasty Financial Partners about the firm's success and how this reflects the evolving wealth management landscape.

Many positive developments led to an increase in US advisor headcount in 2014 – for the first time in nine years – by 1.1 per cent. There has been a heavier focus on teaming and onboarding rookie advisors into multi-advisor practices while there is also greater awareness about succession preparedness, according to Cerulli Associates.

Against this backdrop, more and more advisors are spinning off from larger institutions and “going independent,” which as one executive told Family Wealth Report previously used to be a point of anxiety but is now a point of confidence – particularly given the ongoing fiduciary debate.

New York City-headquartered Dynasty Financial Partners, which develops, sources and integrates wealth management capabilities for independent advisors, recently toasted its fifth birthday; 2015 was a stand-out year for the firm, having taken on close to $10 billion in assets. Dynasty's success is evidence that the wealth management landscape is getting more sophisticated and transparency-orientated, said Shirl Penney, chief executive at the firm.

"When we talk about the fiduciary movement, end-clients think in terms of wanting advice that is separate from where products are manufactured and sold,” Penney said.

"If you look at asset flows – billions and billions a year – from banks and wirehouses to the independent channel, half of that has been from advisors going independent,” he said. “The other half has been from the breakaway client movement, which has received less attention. Growth is being magnified by advisors making the move to independence and clients looking proactively for an independent-based advisor.”

Describing Dynasty's banner year, Penney said the firm is onboarding teams from all corners of the industry: independent broker-dealers who feel they've outgrown their current platform and want to launch their own RIA as well as established RIAs who are tired of juggling different vendor balls and are spending too much time on middle- and back-office related items, as well as larger wirehouse breakaways.

"The size of the teams making the move has also increased because the road to independence is well worn now, and success breeds more success,” Penney said. “We're providing a safe passage and an easier transition for bigger, more sophisticated teams who cover larger end-clients. We're also seeing groups of advisors more often; we've even seen teams in different cities launching multi-city RIAs.”

Dynasty's business model

Dynasty doesn't own any equity in any of its underlying advisors and nor do they own equity in Dynasty, and the firm works with advisors in four ways. The first strand is with the transition and set-up of newcomers (the fee for this varies based on the complexity of the team and how long Dynasty is needed on-site with them during transition.)

The second area relates to “core services” - the running of the middle- and back-office, or essentially all that is required to run an RIA successfully. This includes all third-party services and costs as well as Dynasty’s proprietary advisor desktop technology and support of Dynasty’s 45-member home office team. Then there is financing – say if the RIA has broken away and needs money to launch the business, or if they're already independent but need money to buy another RIA.

The last area covers products and services to implement strategies for end-clients such as life insurance, capital markets, investment banking, TAMP, SMA, UMA, and – one of Dynasty's fastest-growing businesses – outsourced CIO. To contextualize the costs for these different areas combined, the average RIA working with Dynasty typically gets a 65-70 per cent gross income on their business after expenses by the time that all fixed and variable costs are accounted for in their RIA P&L, Penney said.

Today, Dynasty has 35 network partner firms, comprising more than 100 advisors representing over $600 million in combined average client assets per firm. As the firm has seen bigger teams joining its ranks it has made significant investments in areas such as capital markets, trading and alternative investments to accommodate the needs of wealthier clients.

Penney believes Dynasty is not simply taking advantage of a trend toward independence in wealth management, but is equally driving the movement forward by making it possible for advisors to more easily replace legacy systems at a time when many firms are grappling with how to make technology upgrades or even complete overhauls. The firm recently launched the Dynasty Desktop, for example, which provides integrated client engagement, investment management and business management tools for high-end advisors.

“It has been great to see advisors join our community come from legacy RIAs who seek better scale and operating efficiencies with their firm, IBD-based advisors who want to launch their own RIAs, or wirehouse advisors who are seeking independence for the first time,” said Dynasty’s head of service and transition, Jason Pinkham, in a recent statement.

A report by Cerulli in January of this year predicted that asset marketshare gains in the RIA and dually-registered channels are likely to come at the expense of wirehouses and independent broker-dealers in the next five years, reinforcing the trend that set in after the financial crisis and which has continued. The trend has been described as “historical and expected,” and due to a range of factors including the flexibility and autonomy inherent in the independent channel with regard to portfolio construction, operational flexibility, fee structure and technology. Penney is certainly optimistic about the future of Dynasty, and aims to have 50 network partner member firms by this time next year.

December 23, 2015

Coaching Helps Level the Playing Field for Wealth ManagersThe Wall Street Journal

Even the smartest professionals can benefit from a fresh set of eyes looking at their business practices and strategies from time to time. In the wealth-management business, such guidance is now available from companies that provide investment products and account-custody services, as well as from newer firms that empower “breakaway” teams to leave their employers and build new [...]

Even the smartest professionals can benefit from a fresh set of eyes looking at their business practices and strategies from time to time.

In the wealth-management business, such guidance is now available from companies that provide investment products and account-custody services, as well as from newer firms that empower “breakaway” teams to leave their employers and build new registered investment advisers.

And the assistance typically has no explicit cost, because the companies will benefit in higher fees or assets under management if the advisers grow their businesses.

The executives at these companies are like management consultants who are laser-focused on the changing landscape of wealth management. Their expertise, along with various services available from their firms, are leveling the playing field between the large and small shops of wealth management.

John Anderson, the head of practice management solutions at SEI Investments Co., recalls a confident statement made by the founder of a thriving advisory firm serving people who had become suddenly rich in their early 20s. The firm had never lost a client as a result of not having a website, the adviser told Mr. Anderson, whose company provides investments and account-custody services.

After searching online for the RIA’s corporate name, Mr. Anderson realized the adviser was missing opportunities to grow his business. The No. 1 listing in an online search was a company offering payday loans. There were no hits for the RIA with its carefully considered wealth-management services—even though the firm targets millennials, who are always online and expect to find answers on the Web.

Blocking and tackling skills

On one level, this story illustrates how all financial advisers, whether they work for RIAs or wirehouses, can get lost in the day-to-day exigencies of finding and retaining clients. Been there, done that.

But marketing expertise is just one part of what practice-management consultants like Mr. Anderson and other industry experts offer their clients. Their services often address the broader management needs of RIAs, including operating issues like employee retention or how to increase profit margins.

“We can bring more of a global perspective into running a small business,” Mr. Anderson says.

David Canter runs the practice management and consulting group at the Fidelity Investments unit that works with independent financial advisers. Comparing his group within Fidelity Clearing & Custody Solutions to the management consultants at McKinsey & Co. or Bain & Co., he says there are 30 professionals at his Fidelity unit who “help advisers grow, improve and succeed.”

“It’s hard to focus on growing a business when you’re running one,” Mr. Canter observes.

I buy that—especially given the size of most RIAs.

Fidelity’s 2015 Benchmarking Study, released last week, reports that $214 million is the median assets under management at RIAs. These are small organizations, which can support only so many people—about nine employees on average for firms with under $500 million in assets, according to Fidelity.

The same study included 83 firms with over $1 billion in assets, and even they typically employ only about 24 people. All owners, at large RIAs or small, are no doubt pulled in hundreds of different directions by the minutia that goes into operating a business.

His team also helps RIAs address issues like succession planning, an especially important consideration given industry demographics and the ensuing impact on clients. According to the Fidelity study, 37% of firm owners are going to exit the business over the next 10 years.

In addition to business expertise, practice-management consultants help implement proprietary technology from their firms. Fidelity, for example, is introducing an automated-investing platform for advisers during 2016. Mr. Canter’s team will roll it out among RIAs that want the capability and believe it important for finding and retaining wealth-management clients.

Dynasty Financial Partners is a different kind of firm, a noncustodian. It helps breakaway advisers start and build companies, guiding them on myriad choices, like which technology platforms best suit their needs and whether to outsource mission-critical functions like compliance.

Ed Friedman, the director of strategic relationships at Dynasty, explains that there has been “an outcropping of businesses that service RIAs.” That growth has created options for financial advisers that didn’t exist five years ago—and the ensuing need for advice from experts who regularly review and evaluate what’s available.

The Rise of adviser-entrepreneurs

I have three takeaways:

1. These industry experts are culling through winning strategies and coaching an emerging breed of “adviser entrepreneurs,” whom I define as the founders of existing RIAs or recent breakaway teams.

2. Adviser-entrepreneurs who leverage the expertise and institutional capabilities of their coaches have the ability to create and deliver highly customized client experiences—thereby forcing all financial advisers, whether at wirehouses or RIAs, to continuously examine and refine their own value propositions.

Good for clients. Good for the industry.

3. A level playing field means advisers can choose what kind of operating environment they want, big or little, and still deliver sophisticated services and advice to their clients. And career flexibility is a beautiful thing. As Mr. Canter from Fidelity says, “There has never been a better time to be an adviser.”

December 21, 2015

Dynasty introduces portfolio manager servicePAM

Wealth management platform Dynasty Financial Partners has added a new financial data service to its offering after increasing demand from the ‘significant’ number of advisors taking on the dual role of portfolio manager for their clients. Under the agreement with Chicago-based data platform YCharts, Dynasty said it can now offer a service through its Dynasty Desktop channel allowing RIAs to function as portfolio [...]

Wealth management platform Dynasty Financial Partners has added a new financial data service to its offering after increasing demand from the ‘significant’ number of advisors taking on the dual role of portfolio manager for their clients.

Under the agreement with Chicago-based data platform YCharts, Dynasty said it can now offer a service through its Dynasty Desktop channel allowing RIAs to function as portfolio managers.

“Through our partnership, Dynasty and YCharts empower advisors who choose to manage their own client portfolios,” said Scott Welch, chief investment officer at Dynasty Financial Partners. “YCharts’ analytical and graphical functionalities not only help advisors build and manage their portfolios but also clearly illustrate what they are doing for their investors. This helps those advisors to deliver differentiated investment solutions and an enhanced overall client experience.”

The addition of YCharts gives Dynasty’s financial advisors the power of an institutional level platform. YCharts gives advisors the option to monitor the macro environment with their database of more than 400,000 economic indicators, add visualizations of data for over 20,000 US/Canadian listed companies, and 40,000 funds. In addition, numerous advisors rely on YCharts for their easy-to-use screeners and Excel Add-in to speed up their workflows.

“We find that leading-edge technology remains one of the key driving forces behind the ultra-high net worth advisory movement and our job as the premier independent platform services provider is to continue to partner with those technology leaders in the space which we are happy to have done again with YCharts,” said Ed Swenson, chief operating officer, Dynasty Financial Partners.

Dynasty Financial Partners and YCharts today announced that YCharts will now be an integrated offering through Dynasty’s proprietary advisor Desktop. [...]

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dynasty Financial Partners and YCharts today announced that YCharts will now be an integrated offering through Dynasty’s proprietary advisor Desktop.

The Dynasty Desktop is a fully integrated desktop customized for high end, independent, financial advisors that provides a full suite of client engagement, financial planning, investment management, research, and business management tools. YCharts is a financial data platform specifically designed with the Independent RIA in mind.

Dynasty Financial Partners continues to innovate in the Independent RIA Space and continues to refine and expand the Dynasty Desktop capabilities. The addition of YCharts gives financial advisors the power of an institutional level platform. YCharts enables advisors to monitor the macro environment with their database of 400,000+ economic indicators, add visualizations of data for 20,000+ US/Canadian listed companies, and 40,000+ funds. In addition, numerous advisors rely on YCharts for their easy-to-use screeners and Excel Add-in to speed up their workflows.

The Dynasty Desktop provides Dynasty's Network of independent financial advisors a next generation workstation providing a seamless single sign-on point of entry. This single sign-on capability enhances an advisor’s, along with their staff’s, efficiency throughout the day by providing easy transition through multiple, integrated platforms like reporting and performance reports, CRM, business analytics, financial planning tools, and practice management content.

“We find that leading-edge technology remains one of the key driving forces behind the ultra high net worth advisory movement and our job as the premier independent platform services provider is to continue to partner with those technology leaders in the space which we are happy to have done again with YCharts,” said Ed Swenson, Chief Operating Officer, Dynasty Financial Partners. “Dynasty’s size and scale allows us to continue to enhance our proprietary technologies and programs on behalf of our advisory network.”

“Advisors are looking for ways to differentiate their services and provide value to their clients. We have found that Dynasty works with pre-eminent advisors around the country, and the addition of YCharts to the Dynasty Desktop meets an important need for these types of RIAs,” said Dave Lubnik, VP Sales at YCharts. “Using YCharts, advisors have access to robust data and investment research functionality, through a modern, easy-to-use web-based product.”

Trend: RIAs as Portfolio Managers

Financial advisors are increasingly looking for ways to differentiate their services and provide value to their clients. As a result, a significant number of advisors are becoming portfolio managers for their clients.

With this new agreement, YCharts and Dynasty Financial Partners are now able to provide the platform to enable RIAs to function as Portfolio Managers. This is leading to better results, improved client relations and an edge for advisors to win more clients and keep existing clients.

"Through our partnership, Dynasty and YCharts empower advisors who choose to manage their own client portfolios," said Scott Welch, Chief Investment Officer at Dynasty Financial Partners. "YCharts' analytical and graphical functionalities not only help advisors build and manage their portfolios but also clearly illustrate what they are doing for their investors. This helps those advisors to deliver differentiated investment solutions and an enhanced overall client experience."

About YCharts

Headquartered in Chicago, YCharts was founded in part to offer investment professionals an alternative to the handful of long-standing incumbent players.

With time and technology on their side, YCharts has quickly gained a reputation as being the platform that provides the user with an intuitive, fast, and easy-to-use experience that doesn’t require an enormous up-front investment of time.

For more information visit www.ycharts.com or contact dave@ycharts.com.

About Dynasty Financial Partners

Dynasty Financial Partners is the premier integrated platform services provider for the wealth management industry’s top advisors. Dynasty develops, sources and integrates wealth management capabilities, solutions and technology into its open-architecture platform to help independent advisors protect and grow their clients’ wealth. Dynasty’s core principle is “objectivity without compromise,” and the firm is committed to crafting solutions that allow investment advisors to act as true fiduciaries to their clients. For more information, please visit www.dynastyfinancialpartners.com and follow us on Twitter @DynastyFP.

NEW YORK—-Dynasty Financial Partners today announced the addition of two new executives: Kara Valentine as Director of Marketing and Janessa Biller as Vice President, Relationship Management.

Kara Valentine joins the firm with over 20 years experience in marketing specifically driving new business development through effectively developing and implementing marketing strategies and tactics. She will report to Shirl Penney, President and CEO of Dynasty.

She joins the firm from U.S. Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management where she was a Senior Vice President, Divisional Marketing Executive. As part of this move, David Westcott will now be a dedicated resource partner for Dynasty’s network of advisors.

Shirl Penney, President and CEO, Dynasty Financial Partners, said, “Kara brings two decades of proven wealth management marketing experience to Dynasty and has worked on some of the largest brand campaigns in the industry over that time. She will be an important addition as Dynasty continues to grow rapidly and expand its platform. Together with David Westcott and Sally Cates, our team now has nearly 75 years of marketing and public relations experience that our advisor clients will benefit from as being part of the Dynasty Network community”

According to Mr. Swenson, “As we continue to grow our business rapidly we will continue to increase our investments in key areas to support our growing advisor network. Janessa will be a major asset as we provide increasingly sophisticated technology and operations to the Dynasty network of advisors. Her deep experience in operational support will add significant capabilities to our service team.”

Ms. Valentine began her career at the advertising agency Young & Rubicam as a media planner. From 1994-2004, she worked at Morgan Stanley, most recently as Executive Director, Mass Affluent Client Segment Marketing. From 2004-2012, she worked in increasingly senior marketing positions at Merrill Lynch Wealth Management including oversight of the marketing strategy and tactical support for Financial Advisor Recruitment Marketing. She joined U.S. Trust in 2012 as Senior Vice President, Divisional Marketing Executive.

Ms. Valentine has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Marketing from Villanova University.

Janessa Biller started her career at UBS Financial Services as a Representative, U.S. Wealth Management, Client Reporting, Operations Division. She joined Goldman Sachs in 2008 as an Analyst, Prime Brokerage, Margin Lending, Operations Division and, in 2011, she became a Vice President, Prime Brokerage, Client Services Division.

Ms. Biller has a B.A. Economics and Romance Languages from New York University. She has a MBA from NYU: Leonard N. Stern School of Business. Her professional certifications include: Series 7 and Series 63.

About Dynasty Financial Partners

Dynasty Financial Partners is the leading independent integrated platform service provider to the industry’s elite advisor teams. Dynasty develops, sources and integrates the finest wealth management capabilities, solutions and technology into its customized open-architecture platform to help independent advisors protect and grow their clients’ wealth. Dynasty’s core principle is “objectivity without compromise”, and the firm is committed to crafting solutions that allow investment advisors to act as true fiduciaries to their clients. For more information, please visit www.dynastyfinancialpartners.com and follow us on Twitter @DynastyFP.

Based in New York, Mr. Metzger’s responsibilities will include expanding and enhancing the Dynasty technology offering that will provide Dynasty and its network of advisors with further integrated, efficient, and effective technology.

Mr. Metzger has over 25 years of experience working in technology space related to financial services. Most recently he worked at Neuberger Berman from 2008 – 2013 in various senior technology roles. He has been a consultant to the financial services industry since May 2013.

Dynasty Desktop

Mr. Metzger will lead the initiative to launch Dynasty Desktop: an innovative technology offering for independent RIAs that will provide functionality and integration across the full spectrum of RIA practice areas including client and relationship management, planning, workflow, reporting, portfolio management, business analytics, research, and practice management. The cloud-based interface will allow RIAs to manage their clients and business anywhere, anytime, on any device.

“I am delighted to welcome Paul to Dynasty Financial Partners,” said Ed Swenson, COO of Dynasty Financial Partners. “With his depth and relevant experience in financial services, he will lead the initiative to significantly enhance Dynasty’s technology offerings to independent RIAs.”

Mr. Metzger said, “I am thrilled to be joining the Dynasty team. They have consistently proven that they provide the industry-leading integrated platform for advisors seeking independence or to RIAs looking for a growth partner. I look forward to working with Dynasty and its advisor network and to continue to build on an already powerful offering by using innovative and best of breed technology.”

Dynasty CEO Shirl Penney added, “Dynasty continues to be laser focused on enhancing our platform of services to our RIA business owner clients. The evolution of our technology platform and the investment we are making to bring Paul onboard will lead to development of more tools to empower advisor partners to be more efficient, make better business decisions, and ultimately provide better service to their end clients.”

Paul Metzger Bio

Mr. Metzger has a 25 year career in financial services. He worked in senior technology positions at Neuberger Berman from 2008 to 2013 including in the role of Chief Administrative Officer of Global Technology and Operations from 2011 – 2013. From 2003-2008, he worked as Chief Operating Officer of Investment Management and Investment Banking Technology at Lehman Brothers. From 1990 – 1999, he worked at Neuberger Berman in increasingly senior positions, most recently as Chief Administrative Officer of the IT Department.

About Dynasty Financial Partners

Dynasty Financial Partners develops, sources and integrates the finest wealth management capabilities for the industry’s leading independent investment advisor teams. Dynasty’s integrated platform services delivery offers a customized open-architecture platform of wealth management solutions and technology to help independent advisors protect and grow their clients’ wealth. Dynasty’s core principle is “objectivity without compromise,” and the firm is committed to crafting solutions that allow investment advisors to act as true fiduciaries to their clients. For more information, please visit www.dynastyfinancialpartners.com and follow Dynasty on LinkedIn and on Twitter.

January 22, 2014

Dynasty Financial Partners Expands its Industry-Leading Business Development Team by Adding Ron Sallet as Senior Vice President of Network Development

New York, NY, January 22, 2014 – Dynasty Financial Partners welcomes Ronald Sallet who joins the firm as Senior Vice President of Network Development rep [...]

Multi-Generational Strid Family Has Deep Ties To Community

NEW YORK, NY, February 20, 2014 – Dynasty Financial Partners today announced its partnership with Concentus Wealth Advisors, the most recent independent investment advisory firm to leverage Dynasty Financial Partners’ industry-leading platform of integrated wealth management services and technology. The team is joining the Dynasty Network from Wells Fargo Advisors and was formerly known as Strid Wealth Management Group.

The Concentus Wealth Advisors team consists of the following financial professionals all joining from Well Fargo Advisors:

“Concentus Wealth Advisors was built around our desire to deliver independent, integrated and comprehensive wealth management advice and planning solutions to the families we serve. Our clients are notable for their expertise at creating and accumulating wealth. They’re dedicated to building businesses, raising families, shaping communities and creating lasting, meaningful legacies,” said Erik Strid, Principal of Concentus Wealth Advisors. “We built this family business with the mission to help these families manage the complexity and responsibility of their wealth. We are looking forward to significantly growing our business as an independent RIA.”

The company will access Dynasty’s groundbreaking investment platform, which integrates industry-leading proprietary research from Wilshire Associates and Callan Associates and Envestnet’s state-of-the-art portfolio tools and reporting technology. Charles Schwab will provide clearing and custody services.

“The Concentus Wealth Advisors team consists of extraordinary investment advisors who have built a remarkably successful family-based business with a deep connection to their community. With their newly launched firm, we expect they will have even greater success,” said Shirl Penney, President and CEO of Dynasty Financial Partners. “Dynasty is excited to partner with Erik and Paul Strid and their team, and we are proud to add them to our Network of truly independent advisors.”

Biographies

Erik O. Strid, CFP®, ChFC | Principal

With over 20 years of industry experience, Erik guides the overall investment planning and portfolio strategy of our group. After graduating from Amherst College in 1991, Erik spent a year working with Rittenhouse Capital Management, before joining Gerry in 1992. Erik currently holds his general securities registrations and insurance licenses, as well as CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and Chartered Financial Consultant designations. He serves on the boards of the Philadelphia Chapter of the Salvation Army, Acting Without Boundaries (serving young people with disabilities) and Rosemont School of the Holy Child. In addition, he is on the financial advisory board of the Sisters of St. Francis in Media, PA. Erik resides in Bryn Mawr, PA with his wife and three children.

Gerald D. Strid | Principal

Gerry Strid graduated from Villanova University in 1966 and leads our team with over 40 years of experience in the Financial Services industry. Gerry spent the majority of his career as a “Circle of Excellence” Financial Advisor at Merrill Lynch, before leaving to form the Strid Wealth Management Group in 2003. He has devoted much of his time and energy to support Project H.O.M.E, a non-profit outreach program in Philadelphia. Gerald resides in Villanova, PA with his wife and has five children.

Paul F. Strid | Principal

Paul manages the day-to-day operations of the team. After graduating with a Finance degree from Georgetown in 1997, Paul spent three years working for Credit Suisse First Boston in New York on their institutional sales desk and then as Director of Global Equities Information Technology. Paul joined the Strid Wealth Management Group in 2003. Paul resides in Berwyn, PA with his wife and four children.

Nathan J. Hayward, CFP®, MBA | Director

Prior to joining the Strid Wealth Management Group in 2008, Nathan worked with the Kessler Baker Wealth Management Group. Nathan graduated from Arcadia University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics & Business Administration and then received his International MBA from Arcadia University in 2009. In addition, Nathan has received his CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ designation. He currently serves on the executive committee for the Arcadia University MBA Alumni Association, is an active finance committee member of the Scleroderma Foundation (Delaware Chapter) and participates with the non-profit organization Yoga Unites as the active Treasurer. A native of Bermuda, Nathan currently resides in Berwyn, PA.

Thomas J. Greco, MBA | Director

Thomas joined Strid Wealth Management in the spring of 2010 with twelve years of experience in the financial services industry. His previous experience was with The Vanguard Group and Turner

Investment Partners. Thomas graduated Bloomsburg University in 2002 with a B.S. in Finance. He also earned his MBA from St. Joseph’s University with a concentration in Finance.

Thomas resides in Chester Springs, PA with his wife and two children.

About Concentus Wealth Advisors

As a family-based team of independent Registered Investment Advisors, Concentus Wealth Advisors is committed to helping high net worth families achieve their most important financial goals. Our advice goes well beyond the accumulation of assets to address virtually every aspect of their wealth. The detailed and disciplined process we follow with each client results in a personalized wealth management roadmap integrating investment strategy, family governance, estate planning, liability and life insurance solutions, philanthropic endeavors, real estate and more—for both today and tomorrow. Our completely objective and transparent service model allows us to act in a truly advisory and fiduciary capacity for our clients; each solution we present is drawn from the best of Wall Street and is presented entirely in the best interests of the families we serve. In today’s complex financial world, Concentus Wealth Advisors brings welcomed clarity, vision and results to our clients’ financial lives.

About Dynasty Financial Partners

Dynasty Financial Partners develops, sources and integrates the finest wealth management capabilities for the industry’s leading independent investment advisor teams. Dynasty offers a customized open-architecture platform of wealth management solutions and technology to help independent advisors protect and grow their clients’ wealth. Dynasty’s core principle is “objectivity without compromise,” and the firm is committed to crafting solutions that allow investment advisors to act as true fiduciaries to their clients. For more information, please visit www.dynastyfinancialpartners.com.

1

2

Dynasty Press

Dynasty Financial Partners today announced the move to their new headquarters in New York City. As part of their expansion plans, the firm will now be located at the prestigious mid-town location of 1350 Avenue of Americas on the 32nd Floor overlooking Central Park South. “We designed our... [...]

Based in New York, Mr. Friedman’s responsibilities will include business development, management of key client relationships, and delivering practice management programs working with Dynasty’s Network Advisors. Mr. Friedman has been a consultant to the financial services industry after leaving HighTower Advisors in 2011. He worked at HighTower since 2008 as part of the founding management team and was, most recently, Director of Advisor Development for HighTower. Mr. Friedman also has a long career as a leader in wealth management having held branch management positions and senior wealth management roles at Morgan Stanley over the course of his career.

“I am delighted to welcome Ed to Dynasty Financial Partners. We continue to see an acceleration in our business with the number and the size of teams looking to join Dynasty’s Network and thus continue to look to add top intellectual capital to the team to support this growth,” said Shirl Penney, President and CEO of Dynasty Financial Partners. “Ed brings a unique perspective to Dynasty having experience in wirehouse world, independent space, and as a consultant to advisors around areas of practice management. He will be a great educator for advisors considering independence, and a great advisor advocate and coach for those in our growing network.”

Mr. Friedman said, “I am thrilled to be joining the Dynasty team. They have proven over and over that they provide the industry-leading platform for advisors seeking independence or to RIAs looking for a growth partner. I look forward to bringing my experience to Dynasty’s Network Advisors in helping them to achieve all their business goals.”

Ed Friedman Bio

Mr. Friedman began his career at Morgan Stanley in 1985 as a Financial Advisor and worked at the firm in increasingly senior positions reaching Executive Director, Complex Manager at Morgan Stanley Global Wealth management from 2004-2008. After that, he moved to HighTower Advisors as Director of Business Development, assisting in attracting the first 18 teams to HighTower Advisors. Mr. Friedman left HighTower in 2011 to become an industry consultant counseling advisors in areas of practice management, expense controls, vendor selection, organic and inorganic growth strategies, and succession planning.

About Dynasty Financial Partners

Dynasty Financial Partners develops, sources and integrates the finest wealth management capabilities for the industry’s leading independent investment advisor teams. Dynasty’s integrated platform services delivery offers a customized open-architecture platform of wealth management solutions and technology to help independent advisors protect and grow their clients’ wealth. Dynasty’s core principle is “objectivity without compromise,” and the firm is committed to crafting solutions that allow investment advisors to act as true fiduciaries to their clients. For more information, please visit www.dynastyfinancialpartners.com and follow Dynasty on LinkedIn and on Twitter @DynastyFP.

Dynasty Financial Partners today announced the addition of Tom Petrone as the Director of Capital Markets. Mr. Petrone will be based in New York City and [...]

Dynasty Financial Partners today announced the addition of Tom Petrone as the Director of Capital Markets.

Mr. Petrone will be based in New York City and has been appointed to the Dynasty Financial Partners Investment Committee. He will report to Todd Thomson, Chairman of Dynasty, in Thomson’s role as Chief Investment Officer.

As Director of Capital Markets, Mr. Petrone will be leading a number of major initiatives for Dynasty to expand its capital markets platform. He will enhance Dynasty’s current platform by further developing the firm’s capabilities to access the institutional capital markets desks across Wall Street.

In addition to trading securities, structuring of derivatives, designing hedging and monetization strategies on restricted securities and originating structured notes, Mr. Petrone will build a community of syndicate providers and an investment banker referral network.

Mr. Petrone said, “I couldn’t be more excited to join the professional team at Dynasty. I’ve been incredibly impressed by the rapid growth of their business and the success of the advisors that have joined their network. I look forward to delivering world-class capital markets capabilities to advisors and their clients in the Dynasty Network.

One of the leading capital markets experts on Wall Street, Mr. Petrone joins Dynasty Financial Partners after 30 years of experience. Most recently, he served as Head of Capital Markets for the Citigroup Private Bank, North America responsible for the securities and transactional business across all asset classes. This included all client market activity on the bank and brokerage platform. Starting as an options trader at Smith Barney in 1979, Mr. Petrone held numerous senior capital markets positions over a 30 year career, including Co-Head of US Equity Derivatives at Citigroup.

Mr. Thomson said, “We are delighted to welcome Tom to the Dynasty team. He brings a significant depth of experience in capital markets to our investment platform and our Network Advisors. As we continue to expand our sophisticated investment solutions for the elite advisory firms in the Dynasty Network, Tom will be invaluable in structuring complex transactions, educating Network Advisors and delivering the best of Wall Street to our independent advisors.”

Shirl Penney, President and Chief Executive Officer of Dynasty, said: “Dynasty has experienced tremendous growth in assets in our investment platform over the past year. Our advisors are handling more complex and larger capital market transactions. With the addition of Tom, we are elevating our capital markets capabilities to an entirely new higher level.

About Dynasty Financial Partners

Dynasty Financial Partners develops, sources and integrates the finest wealth management capabilities for the industry’s leading independent investment advisor teams. Dynasty offers a customized open-architecture platform of wealth management solutions and technology to help independent advisors protect and grow their clients’ wealth. Dynasty’s core principle is “objectivity without compromise,” and the firm is committed to crafting solutions that allow investment advisors to act as true fiduciaries to their clients. For more information, please visit www.dynastyfinancialpartners.com.

Dynasty Financial Partners announced today that it has launched Dynasty Insurance Services through strategic partnerships with Ash Brokerage, PKS Financial Service [...]

Dynasty Financial Partners today announced the addition of Tom Petrone as the Director of Capital Markets.

Mr. Petrone will be based in New York City and has been appointed to the Dynasty Financial Partners Investment Committee. He will report to Todd Thomson, Chairman of Dynasty, in Thomson’s role as Chief Investment Officer.

As Director of Capital Markets, Mr. Petrone will be leading a number of major initiatives for Dynasty to expand its capital markets platform. He will enhance Dynasty’s current platform by further developing the firm’s capabilities to access the institutional capital markets desks across Wall Street.

In addition to trading securities, structuring of derivatives, designing hedging and monetization strategies on restricted securities and originating structured notes, Mr. Petrone will build a community of syndicate providers and an investment banker referral network.

Mr. Petrone said, “I couldn’t be more excited to join the professional team at Dynasty. I’ve been incredibly impressed by the rapid growth of their business and the success of the advisors that have joined their network. I look forward to delivering world-class capital markets capabilities to advisors and their clients in the Dynasty Network.

One of the leading capital markets experts on Wall Street, Mr. Petrone joins Dynasty Financial Partners after 30 years of experience. Most recently, he served as Head of Capital Markets for the Citigroup Private Bank, North America responsible for the securities and transactional business across all asset classes. This included all client market activity on the bank and brokerage platform. Starting as an options trader at Smith Barney in 1979, Mr. Petrone held numerous senior capital markets positions over a 30 year career, including Co-Head of US Equity Derivatives at Citigroup.

Mr. Thomson said, “We are delighted to welcome Tom to the Dynasty team. He brings a significant depth of experience in capital markets to our investment platform and our Network Advisors. As we continue to expand our sophisticated investment solutions for the elite advisory firms in the Dynasty Network, Tom will be invaluable in structuring complex transactions, educating Network Advisors and delivering the best of Wall Street to our independent advisors.”

Shirl Penney, President and Chief Executive Officer of Dynasty, said: “Dynasty has experienced tremendous growth in assets in our investment platform over the past year. Our advisors are handling more complex and larger capital market transactions. With the addition of Tom, we are elevating our capital markets capabilities to an entirely new higher level.

About Dynasty Financial Partners

Dynasty Financial Partners develops, sources and integrates the finest wealth management capabilities for the industry’s leading independent investment advisor teams. Dynasty offers a customized open-architecture platform of wealth management solutions and technology to help independent advisors protect and grow their clients’ wealth. Dynasty’s core principle is “objectivity without compromise,” and the firm is committed to crafting solutions that allow investment advisors to act as true fiduciaries to their clients. For more information, please visit www.dynastyfinancialpartners.com.

December 17, 2012. Dynasty Financial Partners celebrates its two-year anniversary this month with an expanding network of advisory firms and more than $13 billion in assets under advisement. As a result of this significant growth and momentum in assets and advisors, Dynasty is now considered one of the fastest growing financial services companies in the industry.

Shirl Penney, President and CEO of Dynasty Financial Partners, said, “It has been a remarkable two years. We are pleased that those teams that have been part of our network for more than 12 months have, on average, 120% of the assets they had when they broke away from their previous firms. Two of our firms have more than doubled their assets during their partnerships with Dynasty. Our ability to allow our advisors to become institutional ‘clients of the Street’ in order to execute strategies on behalf of their clients has proven to be an important differentiator for our teams.”

Dynasty Financial Partners now has 15 firms in its network with plans to limit its size to no more than 150 elite firms. Those 15 firms have over 40 advisor partners who manage 21 offices across the U.S.

Since launching Dynasty’s institutionally-advised asset management programs earlier this year, Dynasty has seen rapid growth in its separately managed accounts (SMA), advisor as portfolio manager, strategist models, and performance reporting platforms. Total assets are now approaching $2 billion in assets under advisement in these programs. In addition, there are plans to launch alternative investment access programs early in 2013.

“It has been remarkable to witness the rapid acceptance of Dynasty’s unique SMA program,” said Bill Crager, President of Envestnet. “Dynasty’s investment division is one of the fastest growing businesses we have seen, and we are excited by the future prospects of our partnership with them.”

In the industry, RIAs are growing as a proportion of all advisors as they continue to shift toward the independent business model. At the end of 2010, RIAs represented 7% of all advisors and are projected to grow by 13% by the end of 2012 according to Cerulli Associates. By 2015, Cerulli estimates that there will be more assets in the independent channel versus the traditional wirehouse and private bank channels.

“We are gratified that our strategy to ‘power independence’ for elite advisory firms is resonating so strongly with teams looking to break away from large brokerages as well as already independent firms,” said Todd Thomson, Chairman of Dynasty. “It seems that many of the best firms in the industry value our ability to customize their platform, provide access to the industry’s leading products, deliver institutional quality research and manager access, provide lending, trust and insurance solutions, and create a community of like-minded independent firms to share ideas and expertise.”

According to Dynasty Financial Partners’ Chief Operating Officer, Ed Swenson, “What is so exciting for us is that we are helping to power the American dream of business ownership by enabling advisors to be truly independent and helping them to establish their own firm, brand, business strategy and client coverage model. With Dynasty, we make it easier by helping advisors get all the benefits of independence while working behind the scenes to make it easier for them to have their own businesses.”

One of the attractions of independence for advisors is building the equity value of their business. “Advisors can build up the value of their firm over time and to monetize their large client base and AUMs,” said Mr. Penney.

New Tagline

To celebrate the two-year milestone, Dynasty Financial Partners is launching a new tagline: ‘Powering Independence.’ This tagline articulates Dynasty’s mission to help leading advisors build, service and grow their own business by evaluating, sourcing and integrating the industry’s finest resources and capabilities.

In addition, Dynasty is unveiling its new website today which will include video, enhanced graphics and a special section for advisors considering independence at www.dynastyfinancialpartners.com

About Dynasty Financial Partners

Dynasty Financial Partners develops, sources and integrates the finest wealth management capabilities for the industry’s leading independent investment advisor teams. Dynasty offers a customized open-architecture platform of wealth management solutions and technology to help independent advisors protect and grow their clients’ wealth. Dynasty’s core principle is “objectivity without compromise,” and the firm is committed to crafting solutions that allow investment advisors to act as true fiduciaries to their clients. For more information, please visit www.dynastyfinancialpartners.com

Industry Veteran Brings Depth of Wealth Management Experience and Thought Leadership to Dynasty Dynasty Financial Partners today announced that Jonathan R. Morris has been named Chief Legal & Governance Officer and will be managing all of the legal and compliance issues at Dynasty. Mr. Morris will report directl [...]

Dynasty Financial Partners today announced that Jonathan R. Morris has been named Chief Legal & Governance Officer and will be managing all of the legal and compliance issues at Dynasty. Mr. Morris will report directly to Shirl Penney, President and CEO of Dynasty Financial Partners.

“Jonathan’s stellar experience and track record makes him uniquely qualified to support Dynasty and its continued expansion in the financial services arena. He will be a key contributor with respect to strategic growth and risk management matters relating to all aspects of the firm’s business. He will lead all legal and compliance initiatives for Dynasty while adding to the firm’s intellectual capital that is made available to our network advisory firms. We see Jonathan’s role as critical to the firm’s continued development and expansion,” said Mr. Penney.

Mr. Morris will be responsible for all legal and governance matters including acting as a liaison to Dynasty’s outside counsel, negotiating contracts and representing Dynasty on all legal matters arising from its business. He will also be responsible for developing and maintaining Dynasty’s compliance programs in accordance with applicable rules and regulations.

Dynasty Financial Partners’ Network of advisors has been expanding rapidly over the last year and now has over $13 billion in assets under advisement. In the past 16 months, Dynasty has announced 15 partner firms with 37 advisors in all that have joined its growing network of top independent advisors that utilize Dynasty’s industry leading integrated platform. In 2012, the firm has broadened its geographic footprint by adding independent advisor teams in locations such as Florida, Illinois, Oregon, Texas and Wisconsin.

Mr. Morris has over 30 years of legal experience. He joins Dynasty Financial Partners from Day Pitney where he was Co-head of the firm’s Broker Dealer, Investment Adviser Practice Group. Prior to Day Pitney, Mr. Morris was a Managing Director, General Counsel and Head of Governance for Barclays Wealth where he supported the expansion of Barclays into the private wealth management business in the Americas. Prior to Barclays, Mr. Morris was a Managing Director and the Senior Attorney for Lehman Brothers Investment Management Division. He began his career at Seward & Kissel in New York. He received a JD from Fordham University Law School and a BA from Washington & Lee University.About Dynasty Financial Partners

Dynasty Financial Partners develops, sources and integrates the finest wealth management capabilities for the industry’s leading independent investment advisor teams. Dynasty offers a customized open-architecture platform of the finest wealth management solutions and technology to help independent advisors best protect and grow their clients’ wealth. Dynasty’s core principle is “objectivity without compromise,” and the firm is committed to crafting solutions that allow investment advisors to act as true fiduciaries to their clients. For more information, please visit www.dynastyfinancialpartners.com.Contacts

Dynasty Financial Partners today announced that it has hired John Sullivan as Senior Vice President, RIA & Transition Services. Mr. Sullivan will be based in Chicago and New York. As Senior Vice President, RIA Services, Mr. Sullivan’s responsibilities will include supporting [...]

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Dynasty Financial Partners today announced that it has hired John Sullivan as Senior Vice President, RIA & Transition Services.

Mr. Sullivan will be based in Chicago and New York. As Senior Vice President, RIA Services, Mr. Sullivan’s responsibilities will include supporting the Dynasty divisions focused on the transition of new advisor teams and the ongoing practice development of existing Network firms.

The addition of Mr. Sullivan follows Dynasty’s hiring of Austin J. Philbin as Senior Consultant, RIA Services in May 2012 as the firm builds out its RIA services team.

“Having worked with John for over a decade in the past at Citi/Smith Barney, I am delighted to welcome John to Dynasty Financial Partners. He brings a depth of ultra high net worth client and product wealth management experience to our Network Advisors,” said Shirl Penney, President and CEO of Dynasty Financial Partners. “As we rapidly expand our business across the country, John will be invaluable to advisors looking to grow their firms and ensuring they are maximizing Dynasty as their growth partner.”

“Having worked with several wealth management platforms over the years, I became increasingly aware of the need to offer comprehensive wealth management solutions on an open, objective platform,” said Mr. Sullivan. “It is clear that the Dynasty platform represents the future of wealth management. I am excited to join Dynasty as it continues to grow its business while driving positive change in the industry.”

Mr. Sullivan spent over twenty years at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney/Citigroup serving in numerous high net worth wealth management roles. Most recently, he was Director of Wealth Planning Centers, a national role geared toward helping Financial Advisors provide their clients with comprehensive wealth management solutions.

Previously, Mr. Sullivan served as Divisional Director of Private Wealth Management in the Midwest catering to those clients and prospects with $50MM or more in investable assets. He also spent several years as a Credit and Lending Specialist helping Financial Advisors deliver tailored credit solutions to their high net worth clients and prospects.

Mr. Sullivan is a graduate of the University of Maryland, and holds Series 7, 24, 63 and 65 licenses with FINRA.About Dynasty Financial Partners

Dynasty Financial Partners develops, sources and integrates the finest wealth management capabilities for the industry’s leading independent investment advisor teams. Dynasty offers a customized open-architecture platform of wealth management solutions and technology to help independent advisors protect and grow their clients’ wealth. Dynasty’s core principle is “objectivity without compromise,” and the firm is committed to crafting solutions that allow investment advisors to act as true fiduciaries to their clients. For more information, please visit www.dynastyfinancialpartners.com.

Dynasty News

Shirl joins an impressive group of Icons & Innovators in discussing their aha moments and what they led to. [...]

November 30, 2016

DOL Rule Pours Gas on RIA Movement Fire: Dynasty CEO

Hi, I'm Danielle Verbrigghe, reporter with Fundfire. I'm here today at the Schwab Impact Conference in San Diego with Shirl Penney, president and CEO of Dynasty Financial Partners. In the broker-dealer space, firms are facing a lot of change right now with the implementation of the DOL fiduciary rule, which is set to go into effect in April initially. How do you expect that to affect the RIA chann [...]

Financial advisers stand at a crossroad. With the DOL Fiduciary rule ahead of them and more competition on the horizon from breakaway brokers and the wirehouse, it is time to adapt. Dynasty's Shirl Penney offers his perspective. [...]

November 01, 2016

Dynasty Financial Partners and Addepar

Dynasty Financial Partners describes trends in the investment management space and how they partnered with Addepar to provide a new level of client reporting. Learn more at https://www.addepar.com [...]

Dynasty News

Peter Williams, CEO and founder of ACE, and Tom Petrone, director of capital markets at Dynasty Financial Partners, discuss why a high net worth investor would look to Registered Investor Advisors for help, how the process of accessing an RIA is different in the public versus private markets, and what challenges investors should be ready to face when it comes to direct pri [...]

Dynasty News

Gary Kaminsky, former Managing Director of Neuberger Berman, comments on the trend of financial advisors seeking to become independent. [...]

April 25, 2011

Better Off with a Small Investment House?

Former Citigroup CFO Todd Thomson reveals his thoughts on the equity, capital & bond markets ahead of the end of QE2. Plus, why he started Dynasty Financial and what separates his “small but mighty” strategy from the giants of asset management. [...]

April 25, 2011

Retail Brokerage Business Model Failing?

A look at why the big business brokerage model is dying, with Todd Thomson, Dynasty Financial Partners chairman. [...]

Network Press

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gyrated wildly Tuesday, trading in a range of nearly 1,200 points, as financial markets attempted to regain their footing a day after the index suffered its biggest-ever daily point plunge. The blue-chip index changed direction 29 times over the course of the session before surging in the final hour to close up 567.02 points, or 2.3%, at 24912.77. (Follow live analysis of today’s markets.) [...]

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gyrated wildly Tuesday, trading in a range of nearly 1,200 points, as financial markets attempted to regain their footing a day after the index suffered its biggest-ever daily point plunge.

The blue-chip index changed direction 29 times over the course of the session before surging in the final hour to close up 567.02 points, or 2.3%, at 24912.77. (Follow live analysis of today’s markets.)

Towerpoint Wealth’s president, Joseph Eschleman, was the featured guest yesterday in reporter Ali Wolf’s Fox40 story about how to survive the recent stock market volatility. Eschleman and Wolf discussed possible root causes of the major pullback, as well as specific ideas that investors can use to help insulate themselves from downturns. [...]

Towerpoint Wealth’s president, Joseph Eschleman, was the featured guest yesterday in reporter Ali Wolf’s Fox40 story about how to survive the recent stock market volatility. Eschleman and Wolf discussed possible root causes of the major pullback, as well as specific ideas that investors can use to help insulate themselves from downturns.

Equities Might Matter So Much Less For Your Wealthiest ClientsFinancial Advisor IQ

As affluent clients' wealth grows, so does the likelihood that their stock and bond portfolios will shrink in size compared to their other investments. At least that's a key finding of a new study by Visual Capitalist. "It's slightly counterintuitive because investors are commonly told that the way they're going to build wealth is by increasing their investments in finan [...]

As affluent clients' wealth grows, so does the likelihood that their stock and bond portfolios will shrink in size compared to their other investments.

At least that's a key finding of a new study by Visual Capitalist.

"It's slightly counterintuitive because investors are commonly told that the way they're going to build wealth is by increasing their investments in financial markets," says Jeff Desjardins, founder of the independent business research firm, which is based in Vancouver, B.C.

The study crunched Federal Reserve data and refined previous research into wealth distribution by Windfall Data's Ben Weber. But advisors shouldn't think that the results of the report suggest investments by clients in equity and fixed income markets will drop over time, Desjardins points out.

"The dollar totals for stocks and bonds are likely to keep rising over time," he says. "It's just that as a percentage of someone's net worth these types of investments are likely to become a smaller part of the overall portfolio."

For most affluent families, Desjardins finds that primary residences and vehicles are the most "massive" components of wealth at the beginning stages. Then as wealth accumulates, those two areas "hardly make a dent in the overall wealth picture," he says.

Business interests tend to swell as clients amass more assets, according to Desjardins. His work shows that a typical family with $100 million or more will see half of its wealth represented by such professional-focused assets. For clients with $1 billion or more, that figure jumps to 67% on average.

"As your client's wealth grows, it's going to become more difficult to separate a family's business and personal interests," Desjardins says. "On the financial (investments) side, it's also important to keep in mind that as their wealth accumulates, liquidity can almost evaporate."

Fund holdings as a proportion of net worth also tend to fall significantly, he observes. "As families scale up in wealth it tends to happen rather quickly," Desjardins says. "So high net worth and ultra-HNW investors are probably putting more of their new money into different types of investments -- it's easier to own real estate and private companies as well as other types of assets directly."

But such a view of wealth can be heavily skewed by demographics, observes Jim Maher, chief executive of St. Louis-based Archford Capital Strategies.

The independent RIA, which manages more than $750 million, serves a primary niche of business owners who run privately-held companies. As a result, many of Maher's clients are up-and-coming professionals. Wealth accumulation by younger entrepreneurs tends to be flip-flopped from most established -- and generally older -- small business owners, Maher points out.

"Typically when we work with first-generation entrepreneurs, they have significantly more assets in their businesses than in their investable portfolios," he says. "So they're all-in from the start."

The result for a growing wealth management practice, Maher argues, is that advisors shouldn't generalize about how their clients generate wealth.

"Accumulation of assets outside of someone's core stock and bond portfolio can be a red flag of larger lifestyle and generational wealth concerns," he says. "It needs to be explored and discussed with clients as much -- if not more -- as stock concentration and a lack of diversification in a family's investment allocations."

Besides parsing wealth on a client-by-client basis, some advisors say they're looking closely at how different investors behave within tighter wealth bands than this latest research indicates.

For example, Visual Capitalist's report groups investors in the $1 million to $9 million level. But Michael Barancyk, a senior partner at Oak Partners Wealth Management in suburban Chicago, sees even greater disparity in wealth accumulation than such research might suggest.

He notes that a large percentage of clients at Oak Partners, which manages about $750 million, falls within that range. So in analyzing his book at the independent RIA, Barancyk and his colleagues break such a major grouping into two different levels. "We see much different behavior between families with $1 million of investable assets and those with closer to $9 million," he says.

At the lower end of the spectrum, Barancyk finds a typical $1 million client with a much greater concentration of wealth in retirement assets and primary residences. In fact, he'd double the study's averages in those categories.

By contrast, a client of his with close to $10 million has half as much as listed in this study invested in retirement and housing assets.

"In our experience, the $100,000 client acts very similarly as the $700,000 client," Barancyk says. "On the opposite end, the $15 million client acts very much in the same manner as the $50 million client -- they're both at a point where they know they've got enough money to be comfortable for the rest of their lives."

February 05, 2018

The biggest obstacles to building a billion-dollar RIAInvestment News

The goal for most advisers is to increase the size of the firm, both in assets under management and the number of employees. But as the late rapper Notorious B.I.G. once said, "Mo money, mo problems." [...]

The goal for most advisers is to increase the size of the firm, both in assets under management and the number of employees. But as the late rapper Notorious B.I.G. once said, "Mo money, mo problems."

The Alliance for Registered Investment Advisors, a think tank of entrepreneurs behind some of the most successful RIAs, discussed the setbacks of building a billion-dollar firm at the TD Ameritrade National LINC conference Thursday.

The panelists agreed that growth requires talented employees, but finding and hiring the right people is often one of the hardest challenges.

Matt Cooper, president and founding partner of Beacon Pointe Wealth Advisors, said when his firm was smaller there was a policy of only hiring people the company knew. As it grew — Beacon now manages $1.7 billion in assets, according to its most recent ADV filing — Mr. Cooper turned to tools like LinkedIn to find candidates and used diagnostic tests to make sure the person was a cultural fit. The firm also ditched strict rules dictating the roles, actions and outcomes of new hires. Now, Mr. Cooper said Beacon looks for the best talent and gives them room to operate and fail.

Culture was a topic that continually came up, with many of the advisers saying it's crucial for building a successful firm. Brent Brodeski, CEO, principal and financial adviser at $5.3 billion Savant Capital Management, said in early days he was too concerned with hiring "résumé snobs."

"These people were really smart, but they were jerks," Mr. Brodeski said.

Needing credentialed professionals isn't as necessary as some people think it is, he said. What's more important is finding people who compliment the firm's existing strengths.

"You can train the technical stuff but you can't change the core person," he said.

Ron Carson, the founder of Carson Group, said one mistake he made early on was not paying enough attention to how important culture is.

Other than people, Mr. Carson said a major challenge in growing his firm — now with 49 advisory partner firms and nearly $11 billion under advisement — was navigating changing technology needs.

Mr. Carson, Jack Peterson of $3.2 billion Summit Trail Advisors and John Burns of $1.8 billion Exencial Wealth Advisors agreed there is no "magic sauce" for deciding whether to buy, build or partner with technology providers. While Mr. Petersen decided to rely on outside help from Dynasty Financial Partners and custodians, Mr. Burns preferred to develop internally.

"We performed a gap analysis on the technology systems we had, and really tried to evaluate how well we were using each one," Mr. Burns said.

He recommended advisers start by considering what technology clients want and need, then what employees will need, and finally ask what management needs to achieve the firm's goals.

Mr. Carson thinks it's important to have a technology strategy in place, but that it should remain flexible. He also stressed the importance of investing in technology that integrates, saying it's something that helps him decide whether to build technology or use an existing partner.

"The most precious commodity you have is time," Mr. Carson said. Carson Group's technology is the result of five years of development and cost millions of dollars, he said.

But even if an RIA makes all the right moves and hires all the right people, the panelists agreed firms also must be willing to try new things — even if they fail. Firms won't grow if they do the same thing as other advisers, so they must be continually experimenting.

As Mr. Brodeski put it, "Basically, work really hard and try a lot of stuff."

Kim Lee Kenawell-Hoffecker did not grow up wanting to go into finance. At first, she thought she wanted to attend medical school. Then she thought she might want to try law school. An undergraduate degree in economics, she thought as a college student, might be helpful for that line of work. But as she delved more in [...]

Kim Lee Kenawell-Hoffecker did not grow up wanting to go into finance.

At first, she thought she wanted to attend medical school. Then she thought she might want to try law school. An undergraduate degree in economics, she thought as a college student, might be helpful for that line of work.

But as she delved more into the world of finance, she realized she had found her calling. She changed her degree again and started down a path that led her to a career that has turned into a passion.

Kenawell-Hoffecker is a founding partner and financial adviser at Avantra Family Wealth, an independent wealth advisory firm headquartered in Silver Spring Township, Cumberland County. She and Frank Collins, her former boss at Merrill Lynch, launched the firm July 28alongside several other former Merrill Lynch professionals.

As 2017 came to a close, Kenawell-Hoffecker sat down with the Central Penn Business Journal and talked about the challenge of going independent, shifts in the world of wealth management and her decades-long experience as a fire department volunteer.

Making the leapLaunching an independent wealth management firm is not for the faint of heart. But Kenawell-Hoffecker knew when Collins approached her with the opportunity that it was the right way to go, both for her and her clients.

Kenawell-Hoffecker had a 20-year history with Merrill Lynch, what she still considers one of the best large brokerage firms around, when she decided to help launch Avantra.

She joined Merrill Lynch not long after graduating from Penn State with a degree in finance, applying there after a firm where she had worked as an assistant told her she would need more than a decade of additional experience before entering their financial adviser training program. Their refusal infuriated her at the time, although she says she understands their reasoning now.

Merrill gave her the training opportunity that the other firm did not. So she made her first leap. She spent the next two decades rising through the ranks of the firm, taking on management positions and working with clients.

She was happy there, but grew frustrated with the limited services she could offer while working under a large firm. So when her boss lost his job in 2015 as part of a restructuring at Merrill Lynch, the two decided to make the leap into going independent.

"For me, for my clients, I owed them more," she said. "So I jumped. And here I am."

Asking the tough questionsThe industry Kenawell-Hoffecker works in now is different from the one she entered at the start of her career.

It’s no longer about just doing the math to figure out the best investments for a client. It’s about asking clients about the kinds of things that brought them to a financial adviser in the first place - their hopes, their fears and what kind of work they need their money to do for them or their families.

"I am firmly of the belief that you don’t start with asset allocation, and these are the securities you want to buy, because you’re offering those things without understanding truly what’s going on in your client’s head," she said.

That means asking tough questions. What keeps the clients up at night? What motivates them? Do they want to leave a legacy for a family, or do they want to care for themselves? Did their parents and grandparents live to an old age? Is there a family history of dementia?

These kinds of questions, Kenawell-Hoffecker said, help a good adviser devise a strategy that will help clients meet their goals.

Giving backClients aren’t the only people that Kenawell-Hoffecker tries to help. She also has a long history of community service.

She joined the Hampden Township Volunteer Fire Company in her final years of high school, earning her EMT certification at HACC as a senior. She also volunteers with the Southcentral Pennsylvania Critical Incident Stress Team, an organization that helps first responders after traumatic calls.

One of the calls she helped with was after the crash of Flight 93 on Sept. 11, 2001.

"It was one of the best worst experiences that I’ve ever had, and I never want to experience that again, but I am so grateful that I did," she said. "Those experiences, they define you. I was very proud of my team members in that response, and I was very proud of all the emergency workers that came together."

Kenawell-Hoffecker represented Bank of America, parent company of Merrill Lynch, during the dedication of the Flight 93 memorial. Her daughter, Alyssa, stood by her side at that ceremony. It was not the first time Alyssa had, in some way, visited the crash site; Kenawell-Hoffecker was six weeks pregnant with her when the crash happened.

Because of the time demands of her career, Kenawell-Hoffecker’s volunteer work now consists mostly of doing administrative work for the fire department, like setting up a youth emergency response program for high school students.

The work remains deeply embedded in both her life and that of her family. Her husband is an assistant fire chief, and Alyssa is rearranging her class schedule to make room for the high school volunteer program.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Network Press

David Storch is a financial adviser at Rose Capital Advisors in Miami Beach, Fla. Voices is an occasional feature of edited excerpts in which wealth managers address issues of interest to the advisory community. As told to Jacob Meade. [...]

As a 23-year-old millennial with a certified financial planner designation, I can say that many in my generation don’t feel they can connect with advisers who aren’t able to speak to what matters most to us: a detailed but easy-to-understand roadmap for financial success.

The millennial generation has been shaped by events like the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the U.S., the deepest recession since the Depression and the Bernie Madoff scandal. Many of us are wary of the establishment and lack trust in markets. So a focus of my work as a young adviser is helping reduce the disconnect between younger individuals and the wealth-advisory profession.

As I’ve gotten started in this profession, the managing partner of my firm has been a major role model. He showed faith in my abilities by letting me have direct contact with clients early on. We’ve developed a work relationship where we operate in tandem serving clients and their families. The perspective I bring allows us to better engage and communicate with young clients or clients’ children in layman’s terms.

For example, millennials aren’t looking for an adviser to talk about beta and Sharpe ratios. So when I speak to clients’ children, my goal is to educate them in a casual, comfortable setting about key investing strategies and how to budget for expenses from rent to Netflix. That connection helps deliver more overall value to clients’ families, but it also allows us to stay a step ahead on retention, since it makes clients’ children more prone to being comfortable working with us in the future.

Advisers who want to engage the younger generation better should know that millennials’ priorities often differ from those of their parents. The current version of the American dream isn’t just living in a nice area with a white picket fence. Many people now plan to rent longer, to have both partners work while they’re married, and to retire at a later age. So advisers need to address and accommodate the fact that younger people have much more varied notions of what the long-term course will be.

I also recommend advisers make sure they’re able to connect with younger people through digital client experiences. One program we find useful at my firm is TimeTrade. Although it’s not a financial tool, TimeTrade creates efficiency in our office by letting clients view our schedule and book meetings with us instantly, rather than the traditional mode of calling, chasing and waiting.

We have also developed a mobile application that allows clients to view their portfolio, chat with their adviser and read news tailored to their interests. We’ve found that the most valuable real estate in the world is in the palm of a person’s hand.

Speaking in millennials’ language, addressing financial matters within the context of their worldviews and leveraging technology that enables clients to instantly access you, your company and their financial world are the keys to successfully working with the younger generations.

Pre-nuptial agreements are on the rise among ultra-wealthy individuals and families, especially among people aged under 30 getting married for the first time, a new study finds.

Two-thirds of the 25 English and Welsh law firms surveyed by Forsters’ family team said they had advised their ultra-wealthy and high net worth clients on a greater number of nuptial agreements since 2010.

Almost all (98%) of lawyers surveyed said they have been instructed on new nuptial agreement cases in the past 12 months. Of those, 44% have been instructed on six or more new nuptial agreement cases in the past 12 months and 13% had advised on 16 or more.

Forsters said the main driver for people entering nuptial agreements was wealth protection, including the protection of assets acquired pre-marriage and assets inherited from family. In the event of divorce, with over two-thirds (68%) cited this as the main rationale for those agreements they had advised on. Almost one-third (32%) cited other drivers including minimising the risk of adverse outcomes on divorce/providing more certainty (15%), pressure/encouragement from third parties i.e. parents/children/trustees (9%) and 8% citing other reasons, such as protection of business interests.

Jo Edwards (pictured above), head of family at Forsters, said while the perception may have been pre-nups were the preserve of older or wealthier generations, results showed the most common age bracket for those entering a nuptial agreement was 31-45.

“This reflects the average age of marriage (now 37 for men and 34.6 for women), as well as an increased awareness among that age group of the importance of nuptial agreements in the context of wider wealth planning and a desire to protect, as far as possible, current and future wealth on divorce,” Edwards said.

“The increase in nuptial agreements within this age group may also reflect ageing society and the fact that their parents may be leaving them inheritances/making lifetime gifts which there is a desire to protect on divorce.”

Billionaires return to growth globally, with Asia outpacing the US for the first time

Asian billionaires now outnumber their counterparts in the United States for the first time but the US still retains the greatest concentration of wealth while European growth is static.

The total wealth of Asian billionaires will overtake that of their peers in the US in just four years, if the trend continues, the new joint UBS/PwC Billionaires Report 2017 added.

The combined wealth of Asian billionaires grew by almost a third from $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion but still lagged behind the US, which maintained the largest concentration of billionaire wealth. In 2016, US billionaires saw their wealth increase from $2.4 trillion to $2.8 trillion, driven by technological innovation, financial services and materials, the study of 1,542 billionaires found.

There were 342 billionaires in Europe by the end of last year but growth remained stagnant in comparison. Overall wealth grew modestly by 5% to just over $1.3 trillion, with 24 new billionaires and 21 dropping off, a third of them due to death. This corresponded with previous findings that Europe had the highest number of multi-generational billionaires.

The total wealth of billionaires rose by 17% in 2016 to $6 trillion, double the rate of the MSCI World Index.

“Whereas last year we were concerned about issues such as regulatory upheaval and currency fluctuations, this year's return to growth and change in demographics shifts the focus to idealism, philanthropy and impact investing,” Dr Marcel Widrig, partner and private wealth leader at PwC, said.

“It’s not enough anymore to just preserve and grow wealth. Today's billionaires also feel a responsibility to drive social and economic impact—whether that means creating a private museum to promote the arts or buying a professional sports team to promote a passion.

“This will be even more important when an estimated $2.4 trillion of billionaire wealth is expected to be transferred in the next two decades. Technology, the creation of social networks and high-profile examples of philanthropic peers have all had an impact on this exclusive group.”

How to avoid “Sudden Wealth Syndrome”

A Florida multi family office has offered its advice to prevent wealthy families from contracting “Sudden Wealth Syndrome” and suffering “massive wealth destruction”.

Omnia Family Wealth said its advisers often saw the aftermath of heirs who were unprepared to manage wealth while guiding large multigenerational families. Family fortunes gradually deteriorated after wealth was unexpectedly transferred from one generation to the next.

Omnia announced its three approaches to help families prevent Sudden Wealth Syndrome:

1 Encourage families to engage in structured family meetings where the second and third generation heirs have a forum, with sufficient advanced time, to ask questions and learn about the patriarch’s guiding values and establish long-term goals

2 Provide educational opportunities for second and third generation heirs. A finance or investment educational course can help prepare heirs by giving them a basic understanding

3 Establish a purpose for the family’s wealth. Engaging heirs to continue a family legacy is a great way to give the wealth deep and long-lasting meaning

“It all boils down to opening the doors of communication and talking to your heirs about the legacy you want to leave.”

November 02, 2017

Why Couples Should See a Financial Adviser Before They Get MarriedThe Wall Street Journal

People’s spending habits and other money issues are often overlooked in premarital planning [...]

For couples planning to get married, a meeting with a financial professional is an increasingly important step along the way, advisers say.

It’s a “function of the fact that people are accumulating assets before marriage, getting married later in life, and seeing more and more people getting divorced,” says Lawrence D. Mandelker, a trusts and estates attorney with Seyfarth Shaw LLP in New York who has been referring more clients to financial advisers for these services.

Financial professionals who offer premarital financial planning say they work with couples beyond the nitty-gritty details, such as who is going to pay the bills and whether the couple will pool their money or keep their accounts separate. They’re taking on a counseling role to help couples deal with the emotions that can complicate financial decisions—for instance, the stress that can strain a relationship when one partner tries to exercise too much monetary control.

“We’re more psychologists in this position than we are financial planners,” says Matthew Celenza, managing partner at Boulevard Family Wealth, an investment advisory firm in Beverly Hills, Calif., who has helped couples with premarital financial planning.

Some professionals bill an hourly rate for these services, while others don’t charge separately for the premarital financial planning they do for existing clients or children of clients. Some don’t charge prospective clients, while others base their fees on the complexity of the situation. Couples generally meet with their advisers anywhere from one to five times, though it depends largely on what the issues are.

No secretsFor the process to work, couples should be willing to openly discuss their spending habits, assets, liabilities and financial goals, says Laurie Boore-Clor, a 37-year-old doctor in Ann Arbor, Mich., who went through premarital financial counseling with her fiancé, now husband, about two years ago.

“If you have secrets in a marriage, that doesn’t help your marriage,” she says. “If you’re willing to hide your money, what else are you hiding?”

Only when people are open about how they feel can inevitable differences be addressed. About a year ago, Renée Kwok, a certified financial planner and president of TFC Financial Management Inc. in Boston, worked with a young couple who planned to buy a house but had very different views on how much to spend.

The future bride was much more frugal than her fiancé, and it was an emotional sticking point, says Ms. Kwok. She talked the couple through different scenarios and ran financial projections. She asked the young man to consider how spending less would be more prudent and how it would help to ease his fiancée’s anxiety.

The couple ultimately decided to take a more-conservative approach based on the future bride’s concerns, Ms. Kwok says. These meetings are “a forum for creating compromise because you see [people’s] emotional reactions,” she says.

Encouraging communicationTiffany Welka, vice president of VFG Associates, a registered investment adviser in Livonia, Mich., is part of the premarital counseling board at her church. Couples who want to get married at the church are required to meet with various social-services professionals, and they go to her for financial counseling. She doesn’t charge for these services.

Ms. Welka says she helps engaged couples create a budget, determine common financial goals and set a financial plan. She also encourages them to communicate about financial issues. On average, roughly three of the five young couples she counsels each week on premarital financial planning issues haven’t talked about their finances previously, Ms. Welka says.

They have no idea how much the other person spends or how much credit-card debt he or she is carrying—and they are surprised when the information comes out during discussions.

Derek Gauci, age 28, says the premarital financial-planning process got him and his now-wife, Lauren, also 28, started on the right financial footing. Before going through the process, the couple, who live in Plymouth, Mich., hadn’t given saving for retirement or life insurance a second thought, he says. Also, Mr. Gauci had been putting all his money into his wedding-photography business and didn’t know how much of a profit he was making, how to calculate monthly costs or how to budget appropriately. He feels premarital financial planning is so important that he has encouraged several employees to do it. “I think you’d be a fool not to,” he says. “You just don’t want to have any big financial surprises.”

Like a business dealIn some cases, premarital financial planning with older couples ends up being much like a “business negotiation”—trying to determine who is paying for what and how much, says Mela Garber, a tax principal at New York-based accounting firm Anchin, Block & Anchin and chairwoman of the firm’s trust and estates services group.

Ms. Garber has worked with several older couples where one person makes significantly more money than the other. During the dating phase, the wealthier person often covers the tab for dinners and vacations, but he or she may expect the partner to chip in more substantially after the marriage. If those expectations aren’t discussed up front, problems can arise. “Misunderstandings happen when people assume things that aren’t reality,” Ms. Garber says.

To be sure, not everyone needs a professional’s help with premarital financial planning. Several years ago, Saramaya Penacho, a publicist in San Diego, and her then-fiancé, management consultant Zach Penacho, instituted an annual financial-planning retreat where they go away for a weekend and discuss their past year’s finances and set a road map for the year ahead. At last year’s getaway, they discussed things like how much they could afford for a down payment on a home and brainstormed ways to trim expenses.

It has been an effective way for the couple to gain a shared understanding of their individual and mutual financial goals and save for their future, Ms. Penacho says.

October 26, 2017

Direct Lending Managers Face Rough Road AheadFundFire

Direct lending is still the hot ticket for private fund managers, dominating credit product launches and fundraising targets. But managers diving into the segment are likely to feel more pressure as competition heats up – making lending deals harder to find, loan terms looser, and expectations from experienced investors a greater hurdle, market observers say. [...]

Direct lending is still the hot ticket for private fund managers, dominating credit product launches and fundraising targets. But managers diving into the segment are likely to feel more pressure as competition heats up – making lending deals harder to find, loan terms looser, and expectations from experienced investors a greater hurdle, market observers say.

Direct lending strategies dominated the private debt segment in the third quarter, according to Preqin data, with the most funds closed at 10 and most capital raised at $6.7 billion. Direct lending also remains the busiest private credit segment by far with 155 funds currently seeking $67 billion, including five of the 10 products with the largest fundraising targets, according to Preqin.

The wave of product development continues, with a string of first-time direct lending funds this year – including $500 million or larger entries from Capital Dynamics, Stone Mountain Capital, Adams Street Partners, and TIAA’s Churchill Asset Management. Siguler Guf, a $12.6 billion private equity manager, just this month closed its first small business direct lending strategy, with $300 million in a fund and related separate accounts.

More are on the way: The $257.5 billion Brookfield Asset Management is aiming to build out its first direct lending business, CEO Bruce Flatt said at a recent investor presentation. And the $116 billion First Eagle Investment Management last week announced it is acquiring NewStar Financial, a middle market commercial lending company with $7.3 billion in credit fund assets, to become its new private credit asset management arm.

Those new entrants are hurtling into a market with a core of established players that are growing, O’Mary says. “We’re seeing multi-billion-dollar [successor] funds from managers that have good track records,” she says. “Almost everyone is raising a larger subsequent fund.”

All that activity adds up to a more difficult path for managers than a few years ago, especially to find deals, O’Mary says. “It’s a challenging environment – a number of managers are worried they won’t be able to deploy capital quickly,” she says.

Managers raising bigger successor products in particular will face a challenge if they are still aiming for middle-market loans, because they’ll have to find more deals to fully invest their funds, says Tom Draper, partner and attorney at Ropes & Gray.

“With the same middle-market orientation, it will take a lot longer and more personnel to deploy those commitments, when each investment is relatively small,” he says.

Direct lending managers are already seeing rivals step up activity in the search for deals, O’Mary says. “Even if you have target borrowers, they’re [getting more loan offers] than before,” she says.

Developing networks of potential borrowers is not an overnight exercise, with managers needing years to form relationships with private equity firms that need financing for deals or with other corporate borrowers, says Tom Palecek, a founding partner at Summit Trail Advisors, a $5.1 billion independent advisor.

“We like the managers that have good networks and are able to stick to their knitting,” says Palecek, whose firm vets private credit managers with its own manager due diligence team as well as the Dynasty Financial Partners platform. “For a lot of [borrowers], you’ve got to get them a much better deal to change the manager they’ve been working with for the last five to 10 years. It’s something to be wary of about first-time funds.”

But Summit Trail also sees larger successor funds as a potential red flag, Palecek says. His firm put client capital in three direct lending funds that closed at $400 million, $700 million, and $800 million several years ago, but only has re-signed with one that kept its successor vehicle in the same size range – passing on two others that went for multi-billion dollar funds.

“Both had great returns, but their opportunity set is the same and the teams had not gotten bigger,” he says. “That exposes a business model problem. That kind of manager may have to get through deals faster – maybe skimping on internal due diligence – or go after bigger [borrowers] or maybe have terms and covenants get looser.”

Indeed, loan covenants for borrowers have become a point of distinction in the market, with some established direct lending firms sticking to stricter terms, but other newer entrants – or managers seeking to grow faster – offering lighter provisions, says Randy Schwimmer, senior managing director at Churchill.

“Covenant-lite” loans emerged early last decade when banks began to package senior loans with high yield bonds and used the lighter leverage tests applying to bonds as part of the lending terms, typically for bigger-dollar borrowers, Schwimmer says. Those practices began to spread to smaller borrowers just before the 2008 crash, but then went away as banks shrank back from commercial loans in the post-crisis era – at around the same time direct lending managers stepped up in the market and sparked the senior loan fund wave still rolling today, he says.

But some banks have tried to make a comeback in commercial lending, and one of their tactics has been to reintroduce lighter covenant terms – a phenomenon that has led to greater competition in loan offers, with even some fund managers taking up these practices, Schwimmer says. Such looser terms are also going to smaller borrowers, he adds.

“There are some [fund managers] hanging in there with [stricter] terms,” he says. “We’re worried about the effect of this down the road.”

The impact of such practices are likely to surface in a downturn, Palecek says. “Those will have a light shined upon them,” he says. “As an investor, you have to be willing to walk away from managers that change their models.”

September 13, 2017

Back to school means it's time to save

While it is arguably the best time to be on the east end of Long Island with the sun still shining brightly and the local farms bursting with their harvest, our attention begins to refocus away from the joys of a glorious summer. The traffic has given way to yellow school buses as our children return to their classrooms. This is the perfect reminder to parents about the need to plan for the costs of higher education. [...]

While it is arguably the best time to be on the east end of Long Island with the sun still shining brightly and the local farms bursting with their harvest, our attention begins to refocus away from the joys of a glorious summer. The traffic has given way to yellow school buses as our children return to their classrooms. This is the perfect reminder to parents about the need to plan for the costs of higher education.

According to a recent study conducted by the US Department of Education, the average cost (tuition/ room & board) of one year at a public university is north of $30,000 and a private institution is approximately $45,000. Consider also that these costs have grown over the last decade at an average annual rate of 5%, far outpacing both inflation and wage growth. This means that for my twin boys entering Second Grade this year, when they reach college age it is likely that the cost of one year at public school will be over $57,000. One year of tuition at a private university may reach close to $75,000. These are daunting figures.

The costs associated with obtaining a college degree might seem discouraging, but they are important to know and understand. Regardless of one’s financial condition, the best results are often achieved when a plan is initiated at the earliest possible stage. With that said, it is never too late to start planning.

For parents of young children, 529 plans have become popular tools to save for education. These state sponsored plans offer tax advantages and are even transferrable among family members. Education Saving Accounts also offer certain tax benefits, but differ from 529 plans in their contribution limits. Student loans too, are an important tool, but come with a cost. The burden of carrying debt for a young adult entering the work force handicaps their path toward financial independence, a goal every parent has for their children. Merit and performance based scholarships and financial aid packages may also play a role in covering some of the costs of college, but cannot be guaranteed and should not be fully relied upon. Other strategies to set aside money for education exist and vary in their complexity and have benefits and limitations all their own.

Because every family and every child is unique, with their own set of values, expectations and objectives; it is crucial to take an honest and thoughtful approach to saving for higher education. Starting early may ease the burden as parents can take advantage of opportunities and programs specifically designed for this purpose. Parents and others who are thinking about funding education expenses should try to be as informed as possible and carefully consider both their options and their own financial situation and future objectives when deciding on appropriate levels to set aside for education costs.

Watching my kids paddle out to the lineup at Ditch Plains with the warmth of summer still lingering in the air, it is fun to dream about one of them getting a full ride to college on a surfing scholarship, if there even is such a thing. I think instead I will add a little money to their 529 plans and make sure they do their homework.

Network Press

For a financial advisor at a small firm, David Steele gets a lot of press. [...]

For a financial advisor at a small firm, David Steele gets a lot of press.

In the year or so since he launched San Francisco-based RIA One Wealth Advisors with his brother Jonathan Steele, he’s been written up in the Wall Street Journal, the San Francisco Chronicle and other publications — in addition to being featured in a video interview in FA-IQ.

But then Steele isn’t just a financial advisor. Besides running and co-owning One Wealth, which manages $300 million, the ex-JPMorgan Securities broker owns half a dozen eating establishments in the Bay Area, works as a restaurant consultant, promotes concerts and festivals, and owns a chain of yoga studios.

As though that weren’t enough, he’s also a visual artist with several gallery shows under his belt and a creative writer whose first play premieres next summer at San Francisco’s prestigious PlayGround studio.

From Steele’s perspective, however, all these pursuits are rooted in two things: hard work and precise planning.

“It’s all the same,” says Steele. “People tend to dwell on the differentiators.”

Instead of seeing the processes involved in establishing a successful eatery as radically different from those related to helping a client devise a thoughtful, resilient and detailed financial plan, Steele contends they’re identical — at least in outline.

Similarly, just as producing a music festival involves coordination with artists and their management as well as facility staff, unions and a slew of vendors, being at the center of a client’s financial life means close and careful coordination with accountants, attorneys and other trusted professionals.

“Everything I do is the same,” Steele emphasizes. “I mean that as a positive: I find these processes very interesting and enjoyable.”

Even Steele’s artistic endeavors call for something in common with his other businesses.

“It’s just work,” he says. “Writing the play was work — sitting and typing — not, for me at least, a spiritual undertaking.”

In addition to seeing a clear throughline in a diverse portfolio of interests and business activities, Steele keeps things straight in his mind by putting One Wealth Advisors firmly at the center of his work life.

“I spend the most time on my financial business,” Steele says. In this sense, he adds, his work as a financial advisor is the hub of his professional interests, and the rest — from restaurants and music festivals to yoga studios and his own art — “are the spokes.”

With functional similarities clear in his mind, and a sense of centeredness around financial planning keeping things stable, Steele can reap the benefits of having other activities feed into his wealth management practice.

Among One Wealth Advisors’ clients are music-group managers, musicians, restaurant owners, writers and others connected to Steele’s non-financial business interests.

Without really trying — One Wealth Advisors isn’t in full-bore business-development mode — Steele says his client roster has gone “from zero to 20% or 25%” creative types in the last five or six years.

It helps that so many of his clients — especially the artists among them — are themselves multitaskers who don’t mind tackling new challenges.

“It all works together,” says Steele. “I’m not making a direct analogy with my own work here, but the artists I know who work in different disciplines do it with a sense of universal principles.”

Adds Steele: "Like my work with clients, their work is based on setting and achieving goals and on discipline and focus.”

The holiday season provides advisers with a great opportunity to show clients how much their business is appreciated. Gifts can say something special: From books and documentaries to picnic blankets and pecans, we've assembled some great ideas from advisers.

Click through to read how advisers selected, sent and packaged these holiday goodies for their clients.

In season of giving, consider donor-advised fundsCentral Penn Business Journal

At SevenBridge Financial Group, an independent financial advisory firm based in Harrisburg, we work with a number of high-net-worth clients in the community – both corporate clients and entrepreneurs. We also work with a number of privately held businesses. And because many business owners are asked to give, we assist with an overall gifting plan. [...]

At SevenBridge Financial Group, an independent financial advisory firm based in Harrisburg, we work with a number of high-net-worth clients in the community – both corporate clients and entrepreneurs. We also work with a number of privately held businesses. And because many business owners are asked to give, we assist with an overall gifting plan.

This is the time of year for year-end planning and the discussions often focus on charitable giving. At SevenBridge, we are proponents of donor-advised funds. Donor-advised funds are the fastest-growing charitable giving vehicle in the U.S. because they are one of the easiest and most tax-advantageous ways to give to charity, and they are of no cost to set up. Yet, when we recommend donor-advised funds to our Pennsylvania clients, most have never heard of them.

People in our community have traditionally given to their churches or other local charities. However, we have found that when we set up a donor-advised fund for them, their giving is taken to a different level. Charitable giving becomes more of a plan and is incorporated into taxes, estate planning, investment strategies and appreciated securities. As a result, we work with clients on long-term giving strategies and, consequently, their donations tend to be larger.

We have found that, when our business-owner clients are in the preparation phase of selling their closely-held business, we raise the topic of charitable donations and we discuss the option of donating shares of their private business into a donor-advised fund. We are currently working with several clients in this situation and they end up saving on taxes and reducing capital gains while supporting their favorite charities.

We recommend that people in our area take a more strategic look at their charitable giving. At SevenBridge, we recommend that our clients have a short- and longer-term goal of giving. We encourage clients to continue to donate to their local community nonprofits. But it’s also a good idea to take time to consider the possibility of endowing a scholarship or making a significant donation to a college or national nonprofit. We work with clients to develop a donation timeline often based on pay-outs or liquidity from the sale of a business.

In addition, we urge clients to consider the best donation vehicles. In the past, family foundations were very popular – but today, it’s hard to justify the cost and complexity of family foundations when there are simpler and cheaper options.

Here are some tips when it comes to charitable giving: Special Holiday ColumnPennLive

As Pennsylvania investors take stock in their overall financial picture at the end of the year, it is a great time to assess which charities they'd like to contribute to. You will need to determine the best ways to pay for these contributions while considering their tax and income benefits. [...]

As Pennsylvania investors take stock in their overall financial picture at the end of the year, it is a great time to assess which charities they'd like to contribute to. You will need to determine the best ways to pay for these contributions while considering their tax and income benefits.

Gifting can be a great way to offset a year with expected or unexpected high earnings or to address the tax implications of added income such as year-end bonuses. Generally, if you itemize your deductions, making charitable contributions can decrease your tax bill, and with higher tax rates for high-income earners, there is an even greater tax benefit.

It is important to consider that charitable giving also involves identifying the charity or charities that are a good fit for your gifting desires. It goes beyond establishing the amount that you would like or can afford to give. It's also about establishing the worthiness of the charity for your gift.

I recommend doing some research - either on your own or through reputable third-party resources to determine factors such as how top heavy an organization is. In other words, how much of your donation will go toward salaries, overhead, etc. as opposed to actual use by the charity.

I've used sites such as Charity Navigator, Guide Star and the BBB Wise Giving Alliance, which are all closely monitored and managed. They can help you learn more specifics on the charities as well as rankings that could be useful in choosing a charity that fits your requirements.

Once you've established the charities that fit your desired preferences, you have several options on how that gift can be structured. For example, you can create a donor-advised fund, in which the donor can make recommendations to an organization and their board members about how the money is to be used. You can make deductible donations of cash contributions or appreciated stock. Assets in the fund are not subject to federal estate taxes or state inheritance taxes.

A donor-advised fund allows you to make contributions to the charity while becoming eligible to take an immediate tax deduction. In addition you can then make recommendations on your desired timetable for distributing the funds to qualified charitable organizations.

There are a number of public charities to choose from that sponsor DAFs. In Pennsylvania, these could include Vanguard in Valley Forge (national reach), The Pittsburgh Foundation (regional reach) and in my own community, The Mt. Lebanon Community Foundation. Once you make your choice, you can then recommend grants from your DAF to other eligible charities, which could include IRS-qualified 501(c)(3) public charities.

Establishing a DAF can be a particularly useful strategy at year-end because it allows you to make a gift and take the tax deduction immediately but doesn't require you to decide on the charities to support with grant recommendations.

Before undertaking any giving strategies, you should consult your legal, tax, or financial adviser. But, properly employed, each of the strategies represents a tax-advantaged way for you to give more to your favorite charities. And giving is what this time of year is all about.

1

2

3

4

5

6

Network Press

Helping Clients Make the Most of Career TransitionsFinancial Advisor IQ

So it’s likely financial advisors will find themselves with clients who are considering major career transitions. Such moves can have a significant impact on retirement planning, earnings and benefits. To help clients navigate zigs and zags in their career paths, advisors need to take a big picture view, and help their clients do so as well. [...]

A lifelong career may be a relic of the twentieth century.

So it’s likely financial advisors will find themselves with clients who are considering major career transitions. Such moves can have a significant impact on retirement planning, earnings and benefits. To help clients navigate zigs and zags in their career paths, advisors need to take a big picture view, and help their clients do so as well.

Before a client switches jobs, it’s important to ensure they’re on solid financial footing, says Preal Haley, a Greenbelt, Md.-based advisor with Ameriprise.

“A job transition can be an uncertain time, particularly if the client is leaving behind the corporate world for something more entrepreneurial,” says Haley. With this in mind, she focuses on ensuring the client has enough to cover three years’ of essential expenses as well as a substantial emergency fund in case the unexpected arises.

Sometimes clients may not realize how much they should be setting aside to ensure they’re fully protected during transitions. “Health insurance, life insurance and disability insurance might have been part of their benefits package, and now they’ll have to cover those costs themselves,” says Haley. “Doing so can help you prepare for the certainty of uncertainty.”

If the idea of saving up for three years of expenses is daunting to a client, Haley suggests they begin working part-time on their new venture before making a complete switch.

In addition to preparing clients for actual career shifts, advisors can use transitions to delve deeper and strengthen relationships, says Michael Rose of Rose Capital Advisors in Miami Beach, Fla. “When you change careers, it’s no different from having a child, getting married or getting divorced,” he says. “The implications affect your entire financial plan.”

Earlier this year, Rose, whose firm manages $250 million, helped a client transition from a high-level and longstanding position at a bank to a more entrepreneurial role at a hedge fund. While the client had previously always put off estate-plan updates, Rose persuaded him to use a six-week “garden leave” between positions to conduct the long-overdue review, going over “absolutely everything from beneficiaries to changes in estate tax laws to insurance coverage, to ensure everything was up-to-date,” the FA says.

When switching jobs, clients often focus on their salary and bonus, says Stacy Lewis, an advisor with TrueWealth in Atlanta. “But it’s usually not an apples-to-apples comparison,” says Lewis, who works primarily with corporate executives. “And it’s the advisor’s role to help a client understand that.”

Differences in pensions, retirement benefits and stock options can make certain offers more or less attractive than they may seem at first. Executives who have to relocate for a new position often neglect to take cost-of-living changes and state-by-state tax differences into their calculations. “Someone who’s used to making $250,000 base pay plus bonuses in Atlanta needs to understand that that salary is not going to give them the same lifestyle in New York,” Lewis says, whose employer manages about $1 billion.

But at the end of the day, clients often make their decisions based on emotion. “Typically, someone isn’t going to entertain an outside offer unless they’re not happy — they feel stifled, or they want a change,” says Lewis. “And so even if the new position isn’t as lucrative, the emotional factors make it worthwhile.”

Point Bridge Capital, headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, announced today that it is celebrating its two year anniversary with a move to new larger office space at One City Place in Downtown Fort Worth. [...]

NOVEMBER 30, 2015. Point Bridge Capital, headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, announced today that it is celebrating its two year anniversary with a move to new larger office space at One City Place in Downtown Fort Worth.

Point Bridge Capital’s new offices on the 15th floor were custom built over the past few months with a modern design to complement the modern concept of One City Place.

The company was founded by Hal Lambert in 2013 as a continuation of his business established with investors over the past 15 years. Point Bridge manages assets for ultra high net worth families and foundations across the United States. Mr. Lambert previously managed assets at Credit Suisse, JP Morgan, and Taylor & Company within the Bass family organization.

According to Mr. Lambert, “At Point Bridge, we have had tremendous momentum over the last two years as an independent investment management and capital advisory firm. Our extensive portfolio management experience has had good traction among institutions, business owners and high net worth clients across Texas, the Southwest and the U.S.”

Point Bridge Capital is a member of the Dynasty Network of leading independent advisors in the U.S.

About Point Bridge Capital

Point Bridge is an investment management and capital advisory firm that advises across a broad spectrum of asset classes including private equity, alternative assets, and corporate advisory. With offices in Dallas and Fort Worth, TX, Point Bridge Capital provides unparalleled, institutional-quality capital advisory services to the ultra high net worth, family office, and institutional clients. Point Bridge specializes in investment management, manager search/advisory, lending, and M&A advisory. The firm offers its clients true open architecture, where everything from asset custody to execution is tailored to the client’s specific needs, requests and risk tolerance, with competitive pricing unavailable through normal channels.

November 17, 2015

Financial Planning Firm, Sentinus, Doubles It's Team and Relocates Corporate headquarters To Oak Brook After 70 Years In Business

After nearly 70 years in business, Sentinus (formerly Reynolds Financial Group), an Illinois-based wealth management firm, announces its relocation from Joliet to Oak Brook to accommodate the company’s expo [...]

OAK BROOK, IL – November 17, 2015 – After nearly 70 years in business, Sentinus (formerly Reynolds Financial Group), an Illinois-based wealth management firm, announces its relocation from Joliet to Oak Brook to accommodate the company’s exponential growth over the past year and expected client expansion into 2016. The new 5,374 -square-foot headquarters located at 700 Commerce Dr., Suite 170 will offer increased capacity for the high-touch boutique financial firm as it more than doubles its team to meet the demands of an ever-growing portfolio of high net worth clients and business owners.

“Our company was founded by my father 70 years ago, and we’ve had a long, successful history serving generations of families just like ours,” said Scott Reynolds, CEO of Sentinus. “Helping our clients meet their financial goals remains at the core of every decision we make as a firm, and this move will allow us to attract top talent and continue to provide the personal service for which we are known.”

Sentinus is a family-owned, financial planning firm that focuses on providing a fee-based approach through a philosophy of clarity and transparency with its clients. The firm and its 17 employees offer a variety of financial services to individuals and businesses and became an independent SEC Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) in 2012.

The firm will retain an office in Joliet to remain easily accessible to clients in that area.

“We truly appreciate the Joliet community for housing our company for so many years,” said Tyler Qualio, President of Sentinus. “Our new headquarters puts us closer to dozens of clients downtown and provides us a centralized location to reach even more people seeking financial strategy and guidance.”

New Hires

To build on their individualized client-focused approach, Sentinus recently welcomed several strategic new hires, including four advisors, with a breadth of financial industry experience.

“Our family-run culture is very important to us and we’ve hand-picked a group of financial advisors with exceptional client service skills and knowledge to support the firm’s growth and diversify our capabilities to best meet our clients’ growing needs,” said Qualio. “It’s a really exciting time here at Sentinus as we welcome these new leaders to our team.”

Jim Davenport: Jim Davenport served a six-year tenure at Charles Schwab, where he acted as Vice President, Financial Consultant and Registered Representative. He worked closely with organizations, executives and their families to develop comprehensive financial plans and filled in the gaps with personalized wealth management solutions. Attune to the fact that no client situation is alike, he appreciates the trust his clients have in him to tackle and conquer their unique challenges. Davenport is a graduate of Northern Illinois University with a Bachelor’s Degree in finance. He holds the industry designation of Accredited Asset Management Specialist in addition to insurance and five securities licenses. He is currently working toward a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designation.

Ann Gunst: Ann Gunst has more than 15 years of experience in the financial services industry, with more than a decade spent in financial consulting and accounting. Gunst’s background making financial decisions and tax consideration for her family’s successful manufacturing business gives her a unique insight for corporate clients and small business owners. A former Vice President of Finance for Strategic Management Advisors, Gunst successfully completed the rigorous process of earning a CFP designation, allowing her to bring a holistic approach to clients. Ann graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor’s Degree in accounting from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business. She is also a CPA and a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA TM).

Kevin Cooney: Kevin Cooney has been in the financial services industry for more than 25 years. He works primarily with individuals, families and small businesses to develop and focus on building fully comprehensive financial plans. Cooney is a Registered Investment Advisor Representative, Registered Representative and Licensed Life Producer. Kevin spent much of his finance career trading and managing options and futures on the trading floor for his own personal account, enabling him to become acutely aware of risk and volatility as it relates to investing. Cooney received a Bachelor of Arts from St. Mary’s University and holds an industry designation of AIF.

Greg Johnson: Greg Johnson has 25 years of experience working with individuals, entrepreneurs and businesses to help identify and reach their long term goals, assess strengths and weaknesses, and determine strategic opportunities to create long term value. He is a Registered Investment Advisor Representative providing full-service planning and founder of Coldwater Financial, LLC, a mergers and acquisitions consulting firm. Johnson was also an investment banker for Bear, Stearns & Co., and worked in the merchant banking division of Koch Industries, where he analyzed and advised on M&A transactions, joint venture opportunities, and domestic and international opportunities. He began his career at Northern Trust Company in their corporate trust department analyzing corporate pension plans. Greg is a graduate of Creighton University and received an MBA with a concentration in finance and accounting from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business.

Founded in 1946 by WWII veteran Richard A. Reynolds, Reynolds Financial Group was a responsible and progressive wealth management firm with a focus on customer service. The company began offering fee-based comprehensive financial planning coupled with risk-based asset allocations in 1978, which put them ahead of the curve in helping their clients build unique and diverse investment plans to meet their financial goals. In 2012, the company moved to independence and rebranded with the Sentinus name, which provided an opportunity for client growth and a more streamlined, effective client experience with greater hands-on management and service.

Based in Denver, Colorado, the firm works with corporate executives, professionals, business owners and entrepreneurs in Denver, Vail and Aspen as well in major markets nationwide. Cardan Capital Partners collaborates with attorneys, accountants and other advisors to understand their clients’ full financial picture and works with the children of their clients to educate them on investments, financial management and charitable giving.

The team chose the name ‘Cardan’ to reflect their approach to wealth management. The name comes from the ‘cardan’ suspension, a navigational tool used in sailing to ensure a ship’s stability and balance in both calm and rough waters.

“We have always strived for excellence by embracing the most innovative and progressive trends in the financial services industry. The continued evolution of technology and strategic partners in the independent space have made the independent model compelling for our clients and for us,” said Mr. Fox, Managing Partner at Cardan Capital. “Many of our clients appreciate being in the mountains and have vacation homes in ski resorts. We have a passion for serving clients both in the state and those who may be at a distance but who have a deep connection with Colorado.”

"The Cardan Capital Partners team is poised for expansion – both by adding advisors and expanding their geographic footprint," said Shirl Penney, President and CEO of Dynasty Financial Partners. "We look forward to partnering with them as they build their business and we are proud to add them to our Network of truly independent advisors.”

According to Tim Bello, Partner and Head of Network Development at Dynasty, “With their newly launched independent firm, we expect that the Cardan Capital team will have even greater success building out their business and will become the firm that successful advisors in Colorado and other independent minded advisors in the region will seek to join.”

After seven years at Barclays in New York, advisor Jerry Lucas left Oct. 9 to join an independent RIA, Summit Trail Advisors. Joining him were three partners in a practice that managed $1 billion as part of the British bank’s U.S. wealth-management unit. [...]

After seven years at Barclays in New York, advisor Jerry Lucas left Oct. 9 to join an independent RIA, Summit Trail Advisors. Joining him were three partners in a practice that managed $1 billion as part of the British bank’s U.S. wealth-management unit.

Q: Did the recent decision by Barclays to sell its advisory business in the U.S. to Stifel Financial play a role in your decision to break away?

A: The decision by Barclays was a catalyst for our team to undertake a serious review of the best options for our clients going forward. In a rapidly changing wealth-management industry, we felt like it was a good time to reassess our business and objectively look at all of the possibilities in the market today.

Q: Did you consider moving to a wirehouse or other large global bank?

A: Yes, that was a natural first step for us to consider. We also took a close look at staying with Stifel. But our journey in evaluating different options led us to consider the independent space. In fact, once Barclays’ decision was announced in early June, our clients started asking how the Stifel deal would affect their situations. We realized that change could be very unsettling, so we let them know right away that we were in the midst of an in-depth review of our options.

Q: Did your past relationship with Jack Petersen, another ex-Barclays advisor and cofounder of Summit Trail, make the process easier?

A: Yes, our team had a long-term relationship working with Jack’s team at Barclays. Our teams also worked closely together at Lehman Brothers for years, when Jack served as Lehman’s global head of private wealth management. So the launching of his independent firm with several of his partners was a natural point of interest for us in reviewing all of our options. Our final analysis was that the way Summit Trail was going about building its business would provide the best outcome for our clients.

Q: How so?

A: The independence of Summit Trail coupled with the partnership for front-, back- and middle-office support from Dynasty Financial Partners made for a very compelling combination. In particular, bringing access to our advisors to best-in-breed technologies that aren’t constrained by legacy infrastructure systems was a huge selling point.

Q: Did you see any other advantages?

A: Now, we’re able to offer our clients more choices in custodians. Before, their only option was Pershing. On the investment side, we really thought that Barclays had provided our clients with a good platform. But as an independent, we’re finding even more freedom of choice. That’s particularly true for ideas that are proprietary in nature and would never scale at the bigger firms.

Q: Could you provide an example?

A: When a client comes to us with a problem like owning a concentrated multi-million dollar position in a private-equity venture, we now have the ability to fully evaluate the best options for reducing such a risk. At a large global bank, that type of a portfolio analysis might be too small for their specialists to get involved in.

Q: How do you see joining Summit Trail as helping your team’s future growth prospects?

A: Working in an RIA that is providing unconflicted advice is a very powerful tool for growth. We believe that our team will have more opportunities to serve more sophisticated investors by having available a broader menu of products and services.

Q: Do you expect that to result in lower fees for your clients?

A: We expect they’ll pay roughly in line with what they had been paying in the past, but with far greater transparency in terms of costs. With that transparency, we think our clients will benefit from gaining much greater insights into all of their investment choices.

Q: How will your compensation be affected?

A: We had two choices. One was to accept a traditional type of offer with significant up-front payments. However, we’ve chosen to take the path of becoming an equity partner in Summit Trail. We believe that is the best way to align our business interests with making sure that we’re doing right by our clients.

Q: What advice would you give someone else going through this decision process?

A: If you’re mainly a transactional-based broker, then a wirehouse might be a good choice. But if your business is primarily based on advisory fees, then it’s going to make a lot of sense to thoroughly examine all your options — in both the traditional and the independent advisory channels.

1

2

Network Press

New Program Is Being Rolled Out Nationally at Financial Planning Magazine Women’s Advisor Forum in Chicago on October 21, 2014 New York, NY. October 21, 2014. Leading advisor and entrepreneur Michelle [...]

New Program Is Being Rolled Out Nationally at Financial Planning Magazine Women’s Advisor Forum in Chicago on October 21, 2014New York, NY. October 21, 2014. Leading advisor and entrepreneur Michelle Smith, CEO and co-founder of Source Financial Advisors, is launching her proprietary coaching program for advisors, ‘Anatomy of a Specialist’, at the Financial Planning Magazine Women’s Advisor Forum in Chicago on October 21, 2014.

The genesis of the coaching program is Michelle Smith’s nationally recognized status as one of North America’s top specialists in divorce financial planning. After a decade of specialized business planning, proprietary strategy, and execution of her divorce specialization, Ms. Smith has been a mentor and a coach for hundreds of advisors in helping them build and expand their business by ‘finding their inner specialist and niche’.

“If you have a medical issue, you Google a specialist, not a generalist. In order to grow your practice exponentially, you must find your niche and specialty,” said Ms. Smith. “Using the system I cultivated and created to become a top national thought leader in the divorce financial specialty space, my coaching program, ‘Anatomy of a Specialist,’ delivers the same process and strategy to help other firms and advisors stand out and become the go-to expert in their unique space.”

Source Financial was founded in New York City in 2012 and built for financial advisors who want a home for themselves and their clients. Source offers a dedicated coaching team and asset management platform, powered by Dynasty Financial Partners, to elevate them to the top of their chosen specialty.

Kristen Niebuhr, President and COO of Source, said, “At Source, we put a premium on coaching and advising financial advisors. The ‘Anatomy of a Specialist’ coaching program has made a significant difference to advisors in expanding their businesses.”There will be limited acceptance into Smith and Source Financial’s ‘Anatomy of a Specialist’ program. Firms and advisors can apply by emailing Mark Lingenfelter at Source Financial: Mlingenfelter@sourcefa.com

About Source Financial Advisors

Source Financial Advisors is an independent RIA formed in 2012, based in New York City. Named the 5th fastest growing firm in 2014 by Financial Advisor Magazine, Source Financial and its advisors have specialties in significant financial transactions and events in clients lives. Divorce is one of the key specialties of the firm, and Source Financial has a platform and infrastructure built for advisors interested in building a brand in a specialty niche business. Michelle Smith is a member of the Institute for Divorce Financial Analysts, a holder of the Certified Divorce Financial Analyst credential, and a Divorce Mediator. She is a veteran of Wall Street financial services firms, having spent over two decades as a financial advisor at Merrill Lynch, Paine Webber, and Wachovia Securities. Source Financial Advisors is a member of the Dynasty Financial Partners Network of Advisors. For more information, please visit www.sourcefa.com.

October 06, 2014

Leading Kansas City Team Partners with Dynasty Financial Partners To Launch NovaR Wealth Advisors

“Establishing NovaR Wealth as an independent firm allows us to best serve the individuals, professionals, entrepreneurs, business owners and executives who are our clients,” said Tim Rodgers, CEO of NovaR Wealth. “We are deeply committed to the Kansas City market and we remain dedicated to providing our clients with objective, transparent advice and investment counsel. With NovaR Wealth as an independent firm through Dynasty, we now have access to a much wider selection of financial resources.”

“Tim and his team have tremendous experience and an established presence in Kansas City. As an independent firm, they are committed to providing the best advice and investment solutions to their clients,” said Shirl Penney, President & CEO of Dynasty Financial Partners. “Dynasty is proud to be NovaR Wealth’s transition and growth partner and to add individuals of this quality to our Dynasty Network of truly independent advisors.”

NovaR Wealth selected Fidelity Investments® to provide custody services for their clients, PKS to provide brokerage services and MarketCounsel as counsel for the initial launch and to manage their regulatory compliance program.

About Timothy Rodgers:

In addition to his role of CEO of NovaR Wealth, Mr. Rodgers leverages his experience with portfolio management, investment research, financial and retirement planning into developing and implementing strategies that serve the complex needs of individual clients, families and business owners.

He has built his expertise and reputation through 30 years in the financial services industry, most recently as Managing Director of Investments at Wells Fargo Advisors. He was also a Senior Vice President at A.G. Edwards, where he spent twenty years. He began his career at Stern Brothers, reaching the position of Vice President of Investments.

Mr. Rodgers attended the University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Business before achieving his Certified Financial Planner™ (CFP®) certification. In addition to other leadership roles, he serves on the Board of Trustees of the Shawnee Mission Medical Center and has been a member of the Foundation Board of SMMC since 1992.

About Dynasty Financial Partners

Dynasty Financial Partners is the leading independent integrated platform service provider to the industry’s elite advisor teams. Dynasty develops, sources and integrates the finest wealth management capabilities, solutions and technology into its customized open-architecture platform to help independent advisors protect and grow their clients’ wealth. Dynasty’s core principle is “objectivity without compromise”, and the firm is committed to crafting solutions that allow investment advisors to act as true fiduciaries to their clients. For more information, please visit www.dynastyfinancialpartners.com and follow us on Twitter @DynastyFP.

The announcement took place at the Illinois chapter of the ESOP Association 2014 Conference on March 6th where Archford Capital Founder and CEO Jim Maher presented the application of FDIC Market Participation CDs for ESOP companies.

Market Participation CDs aren’t new, but broader FDIC insurance coverage for ESOPs, longer maturities, and software makes the Archford offering truly the first of its kind in structured products.

According to Mr. Maher, “Fiduciaries, trustees, and corporate officers want principal protection without sacrificing returns. This strategy over a period of time should better mirror investment performance to their future repurchase liabilities of their growing company. It also helps provide ESOP Trust participants with the potential for better returns in their Other Investment Account.”

Archford identified a gap in traditional risk adverse investments that could be used to match future repurchase obligations (and even healthcare, education or pension expenses). Working with large banking institutions to customize an existing investment product, the result is their Market Participation CD. It’s designed to reduce risk by protecting the investment principal with FDIC coverage and participates in potential equity market index gains when held to maturity.

Tom Petrone, Director of Capital Markets for Dynasty Financial Partners, said, “Jim Maher has worked on this project for over a year. By leveraging Dynasty’s knowledge of structured investments and pulling together legal, regulatory and technology solutions, Jim has identified a practical solution to complex issues faced by Employee Stock Ownership Plans.”

Archford’s innovative approach to Market Participation CDs is meant to help ESOPs plan ahead to better meet future repurchase obligations. As companies increase in value and employees edge closer to retirement age, this needs to be planned for carefully. By laddering the Market Participation CDs, sponsors create an attractive opportunity to keep pace. They provide for the repayment of the principal in full at maturity (just like any traditional CD). By including a market component based on major indices (S&P 500, Dow and others), they hold the potential for capital appreciation similar to equities as well.

When the investment goes through the ESOP trust and not a company’s balance sheet, FDIC insurance protection applies to every plan participant—what’s known as pass-through FDIC insurance coverage per financial institution. Because of the inherent complexity in managing all this FDIC coverage, Archford has licensed a proprietary cloud-based software program that does all the FDIC tracking, providing real-time situational awareness for sponsors of their exposure to any financial institution. More information on this software can be found at www.fdiccalc.com.

For Jim Maher and his team at Archford, the drive for innovation stems from his interest in psychology and behavior. “Why people or organizations are doing, or not doing, something they should is one of the questions that drives my career,” says Mr. Maher. “I believe that companies need to plan for ESOP repurchase obligations.”

According to the Employee Ownership Foundation, “13% of companies surveyed said they would cease to exist because of the burden of future repurchase liabilities.” The NCEO Repurchase Obligation Handbook also states that mature ESOPs (greater than 10 years) are currently repurchasing between 2-5% of their stock on an annual basis.

An ESOP is statutorily required to repurchase a departing participant’s shares (called a put) upon events like retirement or termination. To that end, the ESOP and its repurchase obligation are supposed to be managed in such a way as to ensure that the statutory requirements are met.

“In an industry as mature as ours, how could there not be a set of best practices for addressing these responsibilities and obligations?” asked Mr. Maher.

Archford received a favorable ruling from the FDIC and a legal opinion letter on the application of the Market Participation CDs. This confirmed that ESOPs, Defined Benefit Plans and Defined Contribution Plans are able to take advantage of each plan participant’s FDIC Insurance coverage per financial institution. This investment also provides the upside potential of participation in market index returns over the life of the investment when held to maturity.

About Archford Capital Strategies

Archford Capital Strategies, a private wealth management firm founded by James D. Maher, is represented by a skilled team of wealth management advisors with more than 20 professional designations, accreditations and certifications. Based in St. Louis, Missouri, Archford Capital Strategies offers a wide range of financial services to clients and closely held businesses. They offer planning solutions for concentrated stock strategies, foundation management, retirement plan management, credit needs, and wealth transfer strategies. They specialize in Business Transition and work with closely held businesses on business valuation, buyer intelligence, ESOP structures, transition and liquidity strategies.

David Christian was recently ranked in the Barron’s 2014 Top Advisor Rankings as one of the top advisors in the state of Oregon. The three advisors collectively advise on more than $700 million in client assets.

“Cable Hill Partners was created to provide advice at a higher level. ‘Cable Hill’ is a Portland historical reference to a landmark cable car that serviced Portland; our goal is to transport our clients to a higher place with consistency and predictability,” said Mr. Christian. “As an independent financial and investment planning firm, we want to provide our clients—high-­‐net-­‐worth individuals, families, small and private businesses, entrepreneurs, executives, foundations and endowments—with complete objectivity and transparency.”

“The Cable Hill team has really hit the ground running as an independent advisory team, ” said Tim Bello, Partner, Director of Network Development at Dynasty. “They will be a key player in the future in the Pacific Northwest with their entrepreneurial drive.”

“The Cable Hill Partners team consists of two advisory teams combining to create a new independent RIA. This new firm immediately becomes one of the largest RIAs in the Northwest. David, Jeff and Brian are extraordinary investment advisors with a deep commitment to the Portland community,” said Shirl Penney, President and CEO of Dynasty Financial Partners. “Dynasty is excited to be their transition and growth partner, and we are proud to add them to our Dynasty Network of truly independent advisors.”

David Christian, Founding Partner, Managing Director, CFP®, CAP® As a Certified Financial Planner™ and a Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy® certificate holder, David has built his expertise and reputation by servicing the complex needs of high-­‐net-­‐worth individuals and their families. David was named as one of “America’s Top 1,200 Advisors”* by Barron’s Magazine for 2014, which represents the top 1% of the Wealth Management industry. He ranked #12 within the State of Oregon in the same Barron’s list.

David began his career in the financial services industry with Merrill Lynch in 1998, after earning his BS in Finance from Oregon State University. He is a leader of the financial planning effort at Cable Hill Partners and sits on the Investment Committee.

Jeffrey Krum, Founding Partner, CIMA®

Jeff is a Certified Investment Management Analyst® with over 30 years of investment industry experience. Jeff leads the Investment Committee at Cable Hill Partners. Prior to forming Cable Hill Partners, he spent the entirety of his professional investment career at Merrill Lynch. Jeff’s responsibilities included serving as a guest educator at Merrill’s Financial Advisor Training School in Princeton and also chairing that firm’s Advisory Council to Management.

Jeff holds a BA in Economics and Business Administration from Lewis and Clark College.

Brian M. Hefele, Founding Partner, CFP®, CIMA®

A holder of both the Certified Financial Planner™ and Certified Investment Management Analyst™ designations, Brian brings over 19 years of experience to the firm from advising and managing client relationships and investment portfolios at Merrill Lynch.

Brian has a BA in Economics from Boston College, and has a leadership role in both the Investment Committee and the financial planning deliverables for Cable Hill Partners. He is an active member of Friendly House and Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Kendra Biller, Relationship Manager

Kendra has been in the investment advisory and management industry for over 15 years, and spent the last 13 of those at Merrill Lynch. She works with clients assisting them with goal discovery, financial planning and cash management solutions. She is a graduate of the University of Idaho, holding a BS in Secondary Education.

Amanda Peters, Relationship Manager

Amanda works closely with our clients and advisors on a day-­‐to-­‐day basis to provide excellent and extensive service. She brings over ten years of prior experience working with Wealth Management clients to Cable Hill Partners, and has a leadership role in the firm’s client service execution.

Originally from Miami and a graduate of the University of Florida with a BA, Amanda moved to Portland in 2004.

Melissa Rennie, Client Service Associate

Melissa is a native Oregonian with a BA in Psychology from Saint Marten’s University. She is responsible for serving client relationships, supporting the Cable Hill Partners advisors and overseeing/managing various administrative functions for the firm.

About Cable Hill Partners

Cable Hill Partners – Private Wealth Management was created to provide advice at a higher level. In electing to become a registered investment advisor, Cable Hill is required to follow the fiduciary standard. In this capacity, we will place the needs of our clients above all other interests—including our own. Our move to independence means we are no longer limited by the constraints or conflicts of interest that arise in a large corporate environment. Instead, we can provide truly objective advice, an elevated level of personalized attention and access to a comprehensive array of offerings from leading financial services providers of our choosing. We are here to help clients choose the right course to help them achieve their goals, to infuse every decision they make with the utmost in confidence, and to help them see their financial lives with absolute clarity.

About Dynasty Financial Partners

Dynasty Financial Partners is the leading independent platform service provider to the industry’s elite advisor teams. Dynasty develops, sources and integrates the finest wealth management capabilities, solutions and technology into its customized open-­‐architecture platform to help independent advisors protect and grow their clients’ wealth. Dynasty’s core principle is “objectivity without compromise,” and the firm is committed to crafting solutions that allow investment advisors to act as true fiduciaries to their clients. For more information, please visit www.dynastyfinancialpartners.com and follow us on Twitter @DynastyFP.

Multi-Generational Strid Family Has Deep Ties To Community NEW YORK, NY, February 20, 2014 – Dynasty Financial Partners today announced its partnership with Concentus Wealth Advisors, the most recent independent investment ad [...]

Multi-Generational Strid Family Has Deep Ties To Community

NEW YORK, NY, February 20, 2014 – Dynasty Financial Partners today announced its partnership with Concentus Wealth Advisors, the most recent independent investment advisory firm to leverage Dynasty Financial Partners’ industry-leading platform of integrated wealth management services and technology. The team is joining the Dynasty Network from Wells Fargo Advisors and was formerly known as Strid Wealth Management Group.

The Concentus Wealth Advisors team consists of the following financial professionals all joining from Well Fargo Advisors:

“Concentus Wealth Advisors was built around our desire to deliver independent, integrated and comprehensive wealth management advice and planning solutions to the families we serve. Our clients are notable for their expertise at creating and accumulating wealth. They’re dedicated to building businesses, raising families, shaping communities and creating lasting, meaningful legacies,” said Erik Strid, Principal of Concentus Wealth Advisors. “We built this family business with the mission to help these families manage the complexity and responsibility of their wealth. We are looking forward to significantly growing our business as an independent RIA.”

The company will access Dynasty’s groundbreaking investment platform, which integrates industry-leading proprietary research from Wilshire Associates and Callan Associates and Envestnet’s state-of-the-art portfolio tools and reporting technology. Charles Schwab will provide clearing and custody services.

“The Concentus Wealth Advisors team consists of extraordinary investment advisors who have built a remarkably successful family-based business with a deep connection to their community. With their newly launched firm, we expect they will have even greater success,” said Shirl Penney, President and CEO of Dynasty Financial Partners. “Dynasty is excited to partner with Erik and Paul Strid and their team, and we are proud to add them to our Network of truly independent advisors.”

Biographies

Erik O. Strid, CFP®, ChFC | Principal

With over 20 years of industry experience, Erik guides the overall investment planning and portfolio strategy of our group. After graduating from Amherst College in 1991, Erik spent a year working with Rittenhouse Capital Management, before joining Gerry in 1992. Erik currently holds his general securities registrations and insurance licenses, as well as CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and Chartered Financial Consultant designations. He serves on the boards of the Philadelphia Chapter of the Salvation Army, Acting Without Boundaries (serving young people with disabilities) and Rosemont School of the Holy Child. In addition, he is on the financial advisory board of the Sisters of St. Francis in Media, PA. Erik resides in Bryn Mawr, PA with his wife and three children.

Gerald D. Strid | Principal

Gerry Strid graduated from Villanova University in 1966 and leads our team with over 40 years of experience in the Financial Services industry. Gerry spent the majority of his career as a “Circle of Excellence” Financial Advisor at Merrill Lynch, before leaving to form the Strid Wealth Management Group in 2003. He has devoted much of his time and energy to support Project H.O.M.E, a non-profit outreach program in Philadelphia. Gerald resides in Villanova, PA with his wife and has five children.

Paul F. Strid | Principal

Paul manages the day-to-day operations of the team. After graduating with a Finance degree from Georgetown in 1997, Paul spent three years working for Credit Suisse First Boston in New York on their institutional sales desk and then as Director of Global Equities Information Technology. Paul joined the Strid Wealth Management Group in 2003. Paul resides in Berwyn, PA with his wife and four children.

Nathan J. Hayward, CFP®, MBA | Director

Prior to joining the Strid Wealth Management Group in 2008, Nathan worked with the Kessler Baker Wealth Management Group. Nathan graduated from Arcadia University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics & Business Administration and then received his International MBA from Arcadia University in 2009. In addition, Nathan has received his CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ designation. He currently serves on the executive committee for the Arcadia University MBA Alumni Association, is an active finance committee member of the Scleroderma Foundation (Delaware Chapter) and participates with the non-profit organization Yoga Unites as the active Treasurer. A native of Bermuda, Nathan currently resides in Berwyn, PA.

Thomas J. Greco, MBA | Director

Thomas joined Strid Wealth Management in the spring of 2010 with twelve years of experience in the financial services industry. His previous experience was with The Vanguard Group and Turner

Investment Partners. Thomas graduated Bloomsburg University in 2002 with a B.S. in Finance. He also earned his MBA from St. Joseph’s University with a concentration in Finance.

Thomas resides in Chester Springs, PA with his wife and two children.

About Concentus Wealth Advisors

As a family-based team of independent Registered Investment Advisors, Concentus Wealth Advisors is committed to helping high net worth families achieve their most important financial goals. Our advice goes well beyond the accumulation of assets to address virtually every aspect of their wealth. The detailed and disciplined process we follow with each client results in a personalized wealth management roadmap integrating investment strategy, family governance, estate planning, liability and life insurance solutions, philanthropic endeavors, real estate and more—for both today and tomorrow. Our completely objective and transparent service model allows us to act in a truly advisory and fiduciary capacity for our clients; each solution we present is drawn from the best of Wall Street and is presented entirely in the best interests of the families we serve. In today’s complex financial world, Concentus Wealth Advisors brings welcomed clarity, vision and results to our clients’ financial lives.

About Dynasty Financial Partners

Dynasty Financial Partners develops, sources and integrates the finest wealth management capabilities for the industry’s leading independent investment advisor teams. Dynasty offers a customized open-architecture platform of wealth management solutions and technology to help independent advisors protect and grow their clients’ wealth. Dynasty’s core principle is “objectivity without compromise,” and the firm is committed to crafting solutions that allow investment advisors to act as true fiduciaries to their clients. For more information, please visit www.dynastyfinancialpartners.com.

1

2

Network Press

New York-­‐Based $900 Million Wealth Management Team Launches Fusion Family Wealth as an Independent Investment Firm

New Firm is ‘Trusted Advisor to Trusted Advisors’ with Collaborative Relationships with Leading Accounting and Law Firms NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Dynasty Financial Partners today announced its partnership with Fusion Family [...]

Based in New York, Mr. Friedman’s responsibilities will include business development, management of key client relationships, and delivering practice management programs working with Dynasty’s Network Advisors. Mr. Friedman has been a consultant to the financial services industry after leaving HighTower Advisors in 2011. He worked at HighTower since 2008 as part of the founding management team and was, most recently, Director of Advisor Development for HighTower. Mr. Friedman also has a long career as a leader in wealth management having held branch management positions and senior wealth management roles at Morgan Stanley over the course of his career.

“I am delighted to welcome Ed to Dynasty Financial Partners. We continue to see an acceleration in our business with the number and the size of teams looking to join Dynasty’s Network and thus continue to look to add top intellectual capital to the team to support this growth,” said Shirl Penney, President and CEO of Dynasty Financial Partners. “Ed brings a unique perspective to Dynasty having experience in wirehouse world, independent space, and as a consultant to advisors around areas of practice management. He will be a great educator for advisors considering independence, and a great advisor advocate and coach for those in our growing network.”

Mr. Friedman said, “I am thrilled to be joining the Dynasty team. They have proven over and over that they provide the industry-leading platform for advisors seeking independence or to RIAs looking for a growth partner. I look forward to bringing my experience to Dynasty’s Network Advisors in helping them to achieve all their business goals.”

Ed Friedman Bio

Mr. Friedman began his career at Morgan Stanley in 1985 as a Financial Advisor and worked at the firm in increasingly senior positions reaching Executive Director, Complex Manager at Morgan Stanley Global Wealth management from 2004-2008. After that, he moved to HighTower Advisors as Director of Business Development, assisting in attracting the first 18 teams to HighTower Advisors. Mr. Friedman left HighTower in 2011 to become an industry consultant counseling advisors in areas of practice management, expense controls, vendor selection, organic and inorganic growth strategies, and succession planning.

About Dynasty Financial Partners

Dynasty Financial Partners develops, sources and integrates the finest wealth management capabilities for the industry’s leading independent investment advisor teams. Dynasty’s integrated platform services delivery offers a customized open-architecture platform of wealth management solutions and technology to help independent advisors protect and grow their clients’ wealth. Dynasty’s core principle is “objectivity without compromise,” and the firm is committed to crafting solutions that allow investment advisors to act as true fiduciaries to their clients. For more information, please visit www.dynastyfinancialpartners.com and follow Dynasty on LinkedIn and on Twitter @DynastyFP.

November 04, 2013

Leading $1 Billion Texas-­‐Based Wealth Management Team Launches Point Bridge Capital as an Independent Investment Management and Capital Advisory Firm

Firm with Extensive Expertise in Portfolio Management serves Institutions, Business Owners and High Net Worth Clients across Texas and the Southw [...]

October 28, 2013

OR-based TRUE Private Wealth Advisors Expands in the Pacific Northwest with Addition of Leading Advisory Team, The Opsahl Group

The Opsahl Group Joins TRUE in Portland, Continuing the Firm’s Rapid Growth in the Region SALEM, OR, October 28, 2013 – TRUE Private Wealth Advisors announced today that The Opsahl Group will join the firm. Ba [...]

The Opsahl Group Joins TRUE in Portland, Continuing the Firm’s Rapid Growth in the Region

SALEM, OR, October 28, 2013 – TRUE Private Wealth Advisors announced today that The Opsahl Group will join the firm. Based in Portland, OR, the team includes Senior Advisor Joseph Opsahl and Advisor Chris Hatfield joining from Merrill Lynch’s Private Client Group.

“We are delighted to welcome the quality, experience and expertise of Mr. Opsahl and his team into the TRUE partnership. This expansion demonstrates our focus on growth in the Pacific Northwest and ongoing commitment to provide the highest quality resources to high net worth families,” said Steve Altman, Founding Partner and Senior Wealth Advisor at TRUE. “Joe and Chris’s proactive, consultative approach is an ideal fit with the client-centric focus that TRUE embodies.”

Senior Advisor Joseph Opsahl is a CPA with nearly 30 years experience in the financial industry. Most recently, he spent four years with Merrill Lynch in their Portland office. Prior to that, he led a successful practice at Smith Barney for 21 years. Mr. Opsahl provides a wide range of wealth management, investment consulting and financial planning services to high-net-worth families, corporations, retirement plans and foundations. He leverages his proprietary process for advising clients in developing optimal plans for building, maintaining and transferring wealth. Before entering wealth management, Joe was a practicing CPA at an international accounting firm where he advised clients on a variety of tax and accounting matters. He earned his BS in Business Administration and Accounting from Portland State University.

According to Mr. Opsahl, “I did extensive due diligence in the independent space and reviewed the business models available. When I met the team at TRUE Private Wealth Advisors, it was an immediate fit. TRUE has developed the right model for both serving clients and supporting advisors. The partnership model is unique and fosters growth. Through their strategic partnership with Dynasty Financial Partners, they have the infrastructure in place to both remain dynamic and to serve complex client needs long-term.”

Advisor Chris Hatfield joins TRUE from Merrill Lynch’s Portland office. A native of McMinnville now settled in Portland, Chris received his bachelor’s in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from Oregon State University. He is actively involved in both the Portland and McMinnville communities and serves on the Central Catholic Alumni Association Board, serves as Secretary of the South Portland Business Association and is a member of the McMinnville Area Chamber of Commerce.

Shirl Penney, President and CEO of Dynasty Financial Partners, said, “We are excited about this significant addition to the TRUE team. Dynasty remains committed to being their transition and growth partner, as they continue to add clients and advisors on the path to becoming one of the premier wealth management brands in the region.”

About The Opsahl Group

The Opsahl Group provides each of their clients with a personalized approach to simplifying, managing, growing, preserving and transferring their wealth. They have developed a proprietary consultative process for advising clients in formulating and executing plans for building and maintaining wealth. As a multi-faceted and experienced team, they manage and consult on assets held by individuals, families, retirement plans, corporations and foundations with a focus on goal-oriented results.

Based in the St. Louis Metro East area, Archford Capital Strategies is a private wealth management firm, founded by James D. Maher, a National Association of Board Certified Advisory Practices Regional Award Winner. Mr. Maher had previously worked as a leading advisor at Merrill Lynch since 2001. Formerly known as The Maher Group, Mr. Maher and his team created Archford Capital Strategies in 2013. Archford also has a second office location in Creve Coeur, MO.

“At Archford Capital Strategies, we specialize in business transitions. The ability to leverage Dynasty’s access to best in industry resources for our clients is a large part of what led us to partner with them. Many of our clients are business owners and we understand their needs at every point along the spectrum, from transition services to liquidity strategies, as they develop solutions for business continuation. We want to continue to even better serve individuals and families as an independent practice with more flexibility and freedom to focus on our clients’ specific needs and obligations,” said Mr. Maher. “With this move, we’ll also be able to continue investing in the depth and experience of our team to help our clients navigate through life’s financial hurdles.”

Tim Bello, Partner and Director of Strategic Implementation at Dynasty Financial Partners, said, “After a long and thoughtful process, Jim and his team determined that being an independent firm puts them in a better position to ensure that their client needs are being served first and foremost. And Archford Capital also has access to the widest platform of products and services, and the best investments and expertise available.”

“Jim and his team are extraordinary investment advisors who have built a remarkably successful business. With their newly launched firm, Archford Capital Strategies, we expect that they will have even greater success working with and serving client families and business owners,” said Shirl Penney, President and CEO of Dynasty Financial Partners. “At Dynasty, we are delighted to be a growth partner with Archford Capital Strategies and proud to add them to our Network of industry-leading independent advisors.”

Archford Capital Strategies will continue its award-winning work with families on their charitable giving, an important part of the firm’s practice. The firm also specializes in Employee Stock Option Plan (ESOP) business and retirement plans.

The company will access Dynasty’s groundbreaking investment platform, which integrates the industry-leading proprietary research of Callan Associates and Envestnet’s state-of-the-art tools, reporting services and technology.

Pershing Advisor Solutions LLC will provide clearing and custody services for Archford Capital Strategies. Archford will tap Wilshire Associates and Callan for institutional investment research and access to alternative investments.

Mark Tibergien, Chief Executive Officer of Pershing Advisor Solutions, said: “We’re delighted that Archford Capital Strategies has chosen Pershing Advisor Solutions for its custody and clearing services. One of the challenges in the advisory space is differentiating a business from the competition. Archford’s clearly defined focus should give it a definite competitive advantage. We wish them all the best.”

Archford Capital Strategies is the 17th independent advisory firm to join Dynasty’s wealth management platform and brings deep expertise in estate planning and working with closely held businesses to the Dynasty Network of advisors.

Jim Maher, CEPA, CRPC, CRPS, JD and CPA will be joined at Archford Capital Strategies by long-term team members:

Archford Capital Strategies, a private wealth management firm founded by James D. Maher, is represented by a skilled team of six wealth management advisors with more than 16 professional designations, accreditations and certifications. Based in St. Louis, Missouri, Archford Capital Strategies offers a wide range of financial services to clients and specializes in closely held businesses, concentrated stock strategies, foundation management, retirement plan management and wealth transfer strategies. They specialize in Business Transition and work with closely held businesses on business valuation, buyer intelligence, ESOP structures and transition and liquidity strategies. For more information, please visit www.archfordcapital.com.

About Dynasty Financial Partners

Dynasty Financial Partners develops, sources and integrates the finest wealth management capabilities for the industry’s leading independent investment advisor teams. Dynasty offers a customized open-architecture platform of wealth management solutions and technology to help independent advisors protect and grow their clients’ wealth. Dynasty’s core principle is “objectivity without compromise,” and the firm is committed to crafting solutions that allow investment advisors to act as true fiduciaries to their clients. For more information, please visit www.dynastyfinancialpartners.com.

February 28, 2013

Octagon Financial Services, a Specialty Advisory Firm with a Focus on Professional Athletes, Aligns with Dynasty Financial Partners

One of the most recognized names in the financial arena among professional athletes, entertainers and celebrities, Octagon Financial Services (OFS), has become the most recent independent investment adv [...]

Firm Focuses on Closely Held Companies, Entrepreneurs, Executives and Family Wealth; Deep Expertise in ESOPs and Retirement Plans

Based in the St. Louis Metro East area, Archford Capital Strategies is a private wealth management firm, founded by James D. Maher, a National Association of Board Certified Advisory Practices Regional Award Winner. Mr. Maher had previously worked as a leading advisor at Merrill Lynch since 2001. Formerly known as The Maher Group, Mr. Maher and his team created Archford Capital Strategies in 2013. Archford also has a second office location in Creve Coeur, MO.

“At Archford Capital Strategies, we specialize in business transitions. The ability to leverage Dynasty’s access to best in industry resources for our clients is a large part of what led us to partner with them. Many of our clients are business owners and we understand their needs at every point along the spectrum, from transition services to liquidity strategies, as they develop solutions for business continuation. We want to continue to even better serve individuals and families as an independent practice with more flexibility and freedom to focus on our clients’ specific needs and obligations,” said Mr. Maher. “With this move, we’ll also be able to continue investing in the depth and experience of our team to help our clients navigate through life’s financial hurdles.”

Tim Bello, Partner and Director of Strategic Implementation at Dynasty Financial Partners, said, “After a long and thoughtful process, Jim and his team determined that being an independent firm puts them in a better position to ensure that their client needs are being served first and foremost. And Archford Capital also has access to the widest platform of products and services, and the best investments and expertise available.”

“Jim and his team are extraordinary investment advisors who have built a remarkably successful business. With their newly launched firm, Archford Capital Strategies, we expect that they will have even greater success working with and serving client families and business owners,” said Shirl Penney, President and CEO of Dynasty Financial Partners. “At Dynasty, we are delighted to be a growth partner with Archford Capital Strategies and proud to add them to our Network of industry-leading independent advisors.”

Archford Capital Strategies will continue its award-winning work with families on their charitable giving, an important part of the firm’s practice. The firm also specializes in Employee Stock Option Plan (ESOP) business and retirement plans.

The company will access Dynasty’s groundbreaking investment platform, which integrates the industry-leading proprietary research of Callan Associates and Envestnet’s state-of-the-art tools, reporting services and technology.

Pershing Advisor Solutions LLC will provide clearing and custody services for Archford Capital Strategies. Archford will tap Wilshire Associates and Callan for institutional investment research and access to alternative investments.

Mark Tibergien, Chief Executive Officer of Pershing Advisor Solutions, said: “We’re delighted that Archford Capital Strategies has chosen Pershing Advisor Solutions for its custody and clearing services. One of the challenges in the advisory space is differentiating a business from the competition. Archford’s clearly defined focus should give it a definite competitive advantage. We wish them all the best.”

Archford Capital Strategies is the 17th independent advisory firm to join Dynasty’s wealth management platform and brings deep expertise in estate planning and working with closely held businesses to the Dynasty Network of advisors.

Jim Maher, CEPA, CRPC, CRPS, JD and CPA will be joined at Archford Capital Strategies by long-term team members:

Archford Capital Strategies, a private wealth management firm founded by James D. Maher, is represented by a skilled team of six wealth management advisors with more than 16 professional designations, accreditations and certifications. Based in St. Louis, Missouri, Archford Capital Strategies offers a wide range of financial services to clients and specializes in closely held businesses, concentrated stock strategies, foundation management, retirement plan management and wealth transfer strategies. They specialize in Business Transition and work with closely held businesses on business valuation, buyer intelligence, ESOP structures and transition and liquidity strategies. For more information, please visit www.archfordcapital.com.

About Dynasty Financial Partners

Dynasty Financial Partners develops, sources and integrates the finest wealth management capabilities for the industry’s leading independent investment advisor teams. Dynasty offers a customized open-architecture platform of wealth management solutions and technology to help independent advisors protect and grow their clients’ wealth. Dynasty’s core principle is “objectivity without compromise,” and the firm is committed to crafting solutions that allow investment advisors to act as true fiduciaries to their clients. For more information, please visit www.dynastyfinancialpartners.com.

Doug Pyle launched Radnor Capital Management, LLC on May 1, 2012 after resigning from Columbia Management Group. Joining Mr. Pyle today is Pierce Archer who is leaving the Pennsylvania Trust Co. Mr. Pyle and Mr. Archer worked together at the original Radnor Capital Management for over a decade.

Radnor Capital Management provides investment advice to families, trusts, and high net worth clients, as well as charitable organizations, foundations and other institutional portfolios. In addition to wealth management services, both Mr. Pyle and Mr. Archer manage Separately Managed Accounts. Mr. Pyle is a portfolio manager specializing in socially responsible Mid-to-Small Cap stocks; Mr. Archer has a focus on Large Cap Value and balanced accounts.

The original Radnor Capital Management, established in 1989, was sold to U.S. Trust in 1999; U. S. Trust was subsequently acquired by the Charles Schwab Corp., who then sold it to Bank of America, who in turn sold its institutional advisory, Columbia Management, to Ameriprise Financial. The “new” Radnor Capital Management is now 100% employee-owned and financed.

“We are thrilled to be bringing back the Radnor brand and working together again as an independent team providing traditional investment counseling. Our goal is to create an investment boutique that enables us to deliver uncompromised excellence to our clients who have a long-term investment horizon,” said Doug Pyle, the founder of Radnor Capital Management. “As a result of our partnership with Dynasty and access to its robust wealth management platform, we are now well positioned to build out Radnor Capital Management by adding advisors and expanding our footprint in Pennsylvania.”

“Doug and Pierce have a strong long-term investment track record of managing portfolios for high net worth families and institutions,” said Shirl Penney, President and CEO of Dynasty. “It’s a great time to bring back Radnor Capital Management to the Radnor market and join Dynasty’s community of successful advisors and entrepreneurs.”

According to Morningstar, Inc. the Columbia Select Small Cap Fund ranked in the top quintile of all like funds for the decade that Mr. Pyle actively managed it.

Joining Mr. Pyle and Mr. Archer are a number of other original team members of Radnor Capital Management including Andrea Funk, Chief Operating Officer, Elisabeth Schwan, C.F.A., securities analyst, and Pat Barlow, account administrator.

Radnor Capital Management is located at 123 West Wayne Avenue, Wayne, Pennsylvania in the heart of Philadelphia’s Main Line suburb, Radnor Township.

Radnor Capital Management is using Dynasty’s state-of-the-art capabilities, including technology, managed investments, institutional research, trust and insurance services and credit facilities. The company will use Schwab as their custodian and will access Dynasty’s groundbreaking investment platform, which integrates the industry-leading proprietary research of Callan with Envestnet’s state-of-the-art reporting tools and technology.About Radnor Capital Management

Radnor Capital Management, LLC is a registered investment advisor established on May 1, 2012 and headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania. Radnor Capital Management provides investment advice to families, trusts, and high net worth clients, as well as charitable organizations, foundations, and other institutional portfolios. For more information, please call Andrea Funk at 610-674-0401 or visit www.RadnorCM.com.About Dynasty Financial Partners

Dynasty Financial Partners develops, sources and integrates the finest wealth management capabilities for the industry’s leading independent investment advisor teams. Dynasty offers a customized open-architecture platform of wealth management solutions and technology to help independent advisors protect and grow their clients’ wealth. Dynasty’s core principle is “objectivity without compromise,” and the firm is committed to crafting solutions that allow investment advisors to act as true fiduciaries to their clients.

Based in Salem, Oregon, True Private Wealth Advisors is comprised of two experienced teams from Merrill Lynch Private Client Group – including Branch Manager Steve Altman – who will combine to form the new firm. The Davis/Altman Group and the Gescher/Herber Group will remain as two separate groups under the True Private Wealth Advisors banner.

By coming together as True Private Wealth Advisors, the group now combines to bring the best in retirement planning, college funding, business succession planning, philanthropic interests and capital preservation for its high net worth clients. The firm has a strong corporate client base consisting of entrepreneurs and many small and mid-sized companies. True Private Wealth Advisors is the 15th independent advisory firm to join Dynasty’s wealth management platform and brings expertise in both commercial banking and private families to the Dynasty Network of advisors.

As the Davis/Altman Group, Brett Davis and Steve Altman will provide wealth management services to high net worth individuals, businesses, corporations and foundations. They are distinguished by a proactive wealth management approach that has earned them recognition as one of the top teams in the region.

As The Gescher/Herber Group, Todd A. Gescher and Jason D. Herber work as a team serving a variety of different clients including corporate retirement plans, cash management accounts, non-profit organizations, family offices and individual investment accounts. Their successful practice has focused on long-term relationships based on a deep understanding of client goals and financial objectives.

“Our new firm represents our unwavering commitment to our clients, and we are extremely proud to be owners of our own business. The power of our partnership as an independent firm will ensure that our clients will get uncompromised advice, outstanding service and access to leading investments,” said Steve Altman, Founding Partner of True Private Wealth Advisors. “We also believe there is tremendous potential for expanding our business, particularly in the Northwest.”

Todd Gescher, Founding Partner, True Private Wealth Advisors added, “Our team has always been steadfastly committed to serving our clients. Our research convinced us that we could offer better service with an independent business model, especially when we reviewed the resources that are now available through independent partnerships. As owners, we have made significant changes that we believe will be of tremendous benefit to our clients.”

“True Private Wealth Advisors is now well positioned to broaden their business by hiring additional advisors and expanding their footprint in the Pacific Northwest. At Dynasty, we are looking forward to partnering with this experienced team,” said Shirl Penney, President and CEO of Dynasty.

“What is unique about the launch of True Private Wealth Advisors is that we have two successful teams coming together to form one firm with greater scale and broader expertise than each team would have on their own. What they have in common is an entrepreneurial spirit and drive to build a client-focused advisory business in the Pacific Northwest. Under Steve, Brett, Todd and Jason’s leadership, True Private Wealth Advisors will be an attractive destination for additional advisors to join,” said Tim Bello, Partner and Director of Strategic Implementation at Dynasty. “We think this multi-advisor partnership model is the next wave in the breakaway advisor movement. We are getting calls from groups of advisors and branch managers who want to start their own firms while keeping their individual team structures inside the new central brand.”

True Private Wealth Advisors will be based in a new location – in the historic Capitol Building in the heart of downtown Salem, Oregon at 388 State St, Suite 1000, Salem, OR, 97301.About True Private Wealth Advisors

Dynasty Financial Partners develops, sources and integrates the finest wealth management capabilities for the industry’s leading independent investment advisor teams. Dynasty offers a customized open-architecture platform of wealth management solutions and technology to help independent advisors protect and grow their clients’ wealth. Dynasty’s core principle is “objectivity without compromise,” and the firm is committed to crafting solutions that allow investment advisors to act as true fiduciaries to their clients.